TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2008
Patients Get Billed Even When Docs Make Big Mistakes
Let's say, just for example, that you go to the hospital for surgery and the doctor makes a big mistake, like operating on the wrong finger. In 39 states, it is legal for the doc to bill you for both the mistaken surgery and the one he/she was supposed to do.
But in 11 states, hospitals have agreed to waive the bill when a big-time mistake is involved.
Msnbc.com explains:
Spurred by federal and industry moves to cut payments for avoidable mistakes, hospitals across the country have joined a growing movement not to charge patients or their insurers for serious, preventable errors.
Since last fall, hospitals in 11 states have agreed to waive fees for certain rare errors dubbed "never events" because safety experts say they should never happen at all.
The story continues:
The
National Quality Forum (NQF), a health
care safety advocacy agency, has identified 28 such events ranging from
giving a mother the wrong baby to leaving objects behind after surgery. (
Click here [PDF] to see the group's list of "never events.")
The
list includes so-called "wrong-site" procedures, in which doctors
operate on the wrong body part, the wrong place and, in some cases, the
wrong person. There are 1,300 to 2,700 wrong-site procedures performed
in the U.S. each year, according to a 2006 study in the Archives of
Surgery.
Still, that leaves 39 states ... where patients can expect that they, or their insurance providers,
still may be billed for errors that one association leader called "no-brainers."
"There’s
no denying it if you’ve done surgery on the wrong person or the wrong
body part. That's black and white," said Joseph M. Letnaunchyn, who
heads the West Virginia Hospital Association.
Letnaunchyn
expects his agency on March 6 to join the parade of states adopting
voluntary no-payment policies. West Virginia's plan would cover eight
of the most serious NQF errors, and include guidelines to help decide
whether to pay for other mistakes, he said.
Click here to see a partial listing of some companies and business groups that urge hospitals to waive costs, apologize and report cases of "never events."
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
explained in this 2006 news release how some states have gotten involved. Here's what hospitals disclosed after Minnesota passed a law requiring them to report "never events":
During the first year of Minnesota's mandatory reporting program, 30 hospitals reported 99 events that resulted in 20 deaths and four serious disabilities. In the second year, 47 hospitals reported 106 events that resulted in 12 deaths and nine serious injuries.
Story ideas
Click here to see if your state requires the reporting of so-called "never events." If it does, how have patients been affected?
If not, why not? How does your law compare, for example, to the laws of neighboring states? Would it be possible, for example, to have a surgery across the state line and have totally different protection?
Check with local lawyers or consumer protection offices to see if they have handled cases that would otherwise be covered by "never events" rules.
Posted at 7:20:22 AM
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