< Back to front page Text size – +

State to stop paying costs of preventable medical mistakes

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Gideon Gil June 18, 2008 02:05 PM

Facebook
E-mail

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

Massachusetts health officials this afternoon outlined a plan to stop paying doctors and hospitals for services related to their serious medical mistakes, such as surgery on the wrong limb or giving the wrong medication.

In a statement, representatives of four agencies said Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to adopt a policy prohibiting the use of state dollars to reimburse institutions and physicians for error-related care.

The four agencies -- the Office of Medicaid, also known as MassHealth; the Group Insurance Commission; the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority; and the Department of Correction -- directly insure or pay for care for more than 1.6 million people in Massachusetts.

The decision represents the state's latest attempt to reduce errors as well as infections inside healthcare facilities. In a study published in 2006 in the journal Health Affairs, researchers estimated the extra cost of treating serious errors ranged from an average of $700 per case for preventable bed sores, to an average of $9,000 per case for body-wide infections happening after surgery.

In September of last year, several leading Massachusetts hospitals announced that they would waive fees associated with errors.

The state policy will apply to 28 serious reportable medical errors identified by the National Quality Forum, a coalition of physicians, hospitals, businesses, and policymakers.

Facebook
E-mail

« Back to front page

About white coat notes

White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.

Daily Dose | More Health&Wellness

health answers

Long-term health consequences to being born prematurely? It's estimated that each year nearly 500,000 babies in the United States are born prematurely, or before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Submit question | More answers