NY Medicaid refuses to reimburse for preventable errors

The N.Y. Medicaid program announced that as of October it will not pay hospitals for 14 preventable errors. 

This decision follows on the heels of the federal government’s addition in April to the list of preventable errors for which it will not reimburse, including disability from contaminated drugs, disability from the wrong function of a device, medication error and surgery performed on the wrong body part and/or the wrong patient.

Hospitals receiving payment under the N.Y. Medicaid program will be required to provide information on each admission that will designate which complications were present on admission, and which ones occurred during or as a result of hospital care. By working with the hospital and clinical community, this information will help the Medicaid program determine when increased payment for complications will be denied.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services  announced in August 2007 that as of October 2008, it no longer will reimburse hospitals for nine preventable errors. In April, CMS added eight more preventable errors to the list. The move is expected to save Medicare $50 million annually for the next three years.

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