US hospitals make more money when surgery goes wrong
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | April 17, 2013 11:50US hospitals face a disincentive to improve care because they make drastically more money when surgery goes wrong than when a patient is discharged with no complications, a study published Tuesday found.
“We found clear evidence that reducing harm and improving quality is perversely penalized in our current health care system,” said study author Sunil Eappen, chief medical officer of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
An estimated $400 billion is spent on surgery in the United States every year.
Privately insured patients with complications provide hospitals with a 330 percent higher profit margin than those whose surgeries went smoothly, the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found.
Patients whose bills are paid by Medicare — a government insurance plan for the elderly and disabled — produced a 190 percent higher profit margin when complications arose following surgery.
“It’s been known that hospitals are not rewarded for quality,” said study author Atul Gawande, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and director of Ariadne Labs.
While effective methods to reduce complications have been identified by researchers, the authors said that hospitals have been slow to implement them.
“This is clear indication that health care payment reform is necessary,” Gawande added. “Hospitals should gain, not lose, financially from reducing harm.”
Facebook
Tweet This
RSS Feed
Email This Post
Loading ...
