6 Maine hospitals face penalties for complications
Six Maine hospitals are facing penalties in the form of reduced payments from the federal Medicare program, stemming from a high rate of complications and infections.
The Bangor Daily News reported that the six Maine hospitals are named in a list by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, finding that 721 hospitals nationally will have Medicare payments cut by 1% over the 2015 fiscal year. The penalties total $373 million nationwide.
The six Maine hospitals are:
• Maine Medical Center in Portland;
• Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor;
• MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta;
• St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston;
• Inland Hospital in Waterville;
• and The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle.
The hospitals are facing penalties because they were found to have a higher rate of avoidable patient injuries that resulted from medical treatment, including blood clots, bedsores, accidental falls after surgery and collapsed lung. They also had a higher rate of patients with urinary tract infections from catheters and bloodstream infections from central lines or catheters placed in major veins.
Hospital officials told the BDN that the penalties are the result of the facilities properly identifying infections and having the sickest patients.
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