PROVIDENCE — Four Rhode Island hospitals have been penalized with a 1 percent reduction in Medicare payments for fiscal 2018 by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after ranking among lowest 25 percent of hospitals in the United States for rates of certain infections and injuries.
Roger Williams Hospital, Kent County Memorial Hospital, Newport Hospital and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital all scored among the lowest 750 hospitals out of 3,306 scored by the CMS Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program. The hospitals will have their Medicare reimbursements reduced between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018.
Town Facilities Team Boosts Efficiency with Energy Upgrade
It was no easy feat for a small town facilities team, Coventry embarked on a…
Learn More
Infections measured by the program include urinary tract infections from catheters, surgical site infections, colon surgery and abdominal hysterectomy infections, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and Clostridium Difficile Infection bacterial infections.
Infection rates for each were combined with the incidence of falls and surgical complications into a composite HAC score. Scores ranged from zero to 2.1496. The penalized Rhode Island hospital’s scores were:
- Kent County Memorial Hospital: 0.5810
- Roger Williams Medical Center: 0.6155
- Our Lady of Fatima: 0.9324
- Newport Hospital: 0.9697
The Affordable Care Act established the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program to provide an incentive for hospitals to reduce HACs, according to CMS.gov. In the fiscal 2018 HAC Reduction Program, hospitals with a Total HAC Score greater than 0.3687 may be subject to a payment reduction.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer.
