Medical Mistakes Will No Longer Be Billable Under New Rules Adopted by Massachusetts, Insurer
Massachusetts health officials and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts in separate announcements on Thursday outlined new policies that will prohibit hospitals and physicians from billing the state and insurer for preventable medical errors, the Boston Globe reports. Under the policies, 28 kinds of medical and surgical errors indentified by a national coalition will no longer be billable. The state's new rule is part of a national effort to reduce health care errors, according to the Globe. The initiative also aims to reduce costs and encourage quality health care, Tom Dehner, director of the state's Medicaid program, said.
A 2006 Health Affairs study found that costs related to treating serious medical errors range from an estimated $700 per case for preventable bed sores, to an average of $9,000 for body-wide surgery infections. Massachusetts officials cannot quantify their costs in part because the Department of Public Health did not begin mandating that serious medical mistakes be reported until recently. Seventy serious medical errors were reported to officials from January to May, Jim Conway, senior vice president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, said. The state's new rule will go into effect as contracts with health plans are negotiated (Smith, Boston Globe, 6/19).
