Medicare payment for selected adverse events: building the business case for investing in patient safety.
This study estimates that Medicare extra payments under the hospital prospective payment system (PPS) range from about $700 per case of decubitus ulcer to $9,000 per case of postoperative sepsis in the five types of adverse events identifiable in Medicare claims. Medicare extra payment for the five types of events totals more than $300 million per year, accounting for 0.27 percent of annual Medicare hospital spending. But these extra payments cover less than a third of the extra costs incurred by hospitals in treating these adverse events. We conclude that both Medicare and hospitals gain financially by improving patient safety.
Zhan
Chunliu
C
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland, USA. czhan@ahrq.gov
Friedman
Bernard
B
Mosso
Andrew
A
Pronovost
Peter
P
D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control; D007449:Investments; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016344:Medicare Part A / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011445:Prospective Payment System; D017751:Safety Management; D014481:United States