title: Medicare payment for selected adverse events: building the business case for investing in patient safety.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland, USA. czhan@ahrq.gov
authors.forename: Chunliu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mosso
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pronovost
mesh_terms: 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