Two Northland Hospitals Penalized by Medicare
DULUTH, Minn. – Two Northland hospitals are among the 721 being penalized by Medicare.
According to Kaiser Health News, the hospitals on the list have high rates of potentially avoidable mistakes that can harm patients.
As a result St. Luke's in Duluth and Essentia Health Virginia will have their Medicare payments reduced by one percent over the fiscal year from October 2014 through September 2015.
Monday St. Luke's President and CEO John Strange responded saying, "St. Luke's has always valued providing high quality care to patients and we are always striving to be better."
He offered a few key points to highlight from the report:
–This penalty is based on 2+ year old data
–St. Luke's missed the threshold by less than one hundredth of a point (7.07 vs 7.00)
–Current data shows we have already improved in certain areas such as catheter–associated urinary tract infections
The hospital also added: "At St. Luke's in 2012 and 2013, there were 34 Hospital Acquired Conditions out of 22,365 hospital discharges (including Adults, Pediatrics, Bassinets, and Rehab). We recognized a Hospital Acquired Condition in less than 2 out of every 1,000 inpatient discharges."
Essentia Health also issued a response to the report.
Dan Milbridge, Essentia Health–Virginia Administrator said, "We value reporting measures as they help us identify opportunities for improvement. As a result of this report, we continue to strengthen our infection prevention efforts, specifically around catheter–associated urinary tract infections with improved hand hygiene and education."
More details on the report and a complete list of penalized hospitals can be found at: http://kaiserhealthnews.org/news/medicare-cuts-payments-to-721-hospitals-with-highest-rates-of-infections-injuries/