Our local paper, The Roanoke Times, reported today that Medicare will no longer pay hospitals when preventable medical mistakes injure a patient. After October 1, 2008, Medicare will no longer pay hospital bills which arise from:
1. Urinary tract infections from catheters
2. Bloodstream infections from using catheters
3. Injuries from falls
4. Bed sores, pressure sores, or decubitus ulcers
5. Objects left inside a patient during surgery
6. Blood incompatibility – giving a patient the wrong blood type
7. An infection after heart surgery called mediastinitis
8. Complications from an air embolism – an air bubble in a blood vessel
It will be interesting to see if the quality of care improves at the following hospitals in western Virginia: Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, Danville Regional Medical Center, Stonewall Jackson Hospital, Carilion New River Valley Hospital, Montgomery Regional Hospital, Wellmont Bristol Regional Hospital, Carilion Giles Memorial Hospital, Alleghany Regional Hospital, Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital, Tazewell Community Hospital, and Lewis-Gale Medical Center.