A local nonprofit group is expressing concern about the number of Southeast Michigan hospitals being penalized by a federal agency.
According to The Economic Alliance for Michigan -- comprised of the state's largest employers and unions -- the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services has penalized for 24 local hospital for "acquired conditions."
As a result, the federal government will reduce payments to 800 hospitals nationwide, including 24 hospitals in Michigan, according to a March 1 report by Kaiser Health News.
Fifty-eight percent of those penalized hospitals are located in the state's southeastern region. DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital in Detroit, DMC Harper University in Detroit, Hurley Medical Center in Flint and McLaren Flint have been penalized for the past five years consecutively.
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Penalized hospitals will lose one percent of Medicare payments in the coming fiscal year. Estimated losses among larger hospitals will exceed over one million dollars. The goal is to hold hospitals accountable for hospital acquired infections such as blood clots, sepsis, bedsores and other adverse events a patient may acquire during a hospital admission.
“In this report, it’s great to see the state, as a whole, performing above the national standard for patient safety,” said Bret Jackson, president of EAM. “However, some facilities are harming patients, increasing their need for care, and adding to the high cost of healthcare. It is our hope to work with these hospitals to improve their outcomes.”
Read the full report here .
