Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado will stop paying for preventable problems that occur at hospitals to protect its 854,000 members from paying extra for errors such as surgery performed on the wrong part of a body, surgery performed on the wrong patient and the wrong surgery performed on a patient.Such "never events," as they are called in the health care industry, should never happen to patients, Anthem officials said, adding that they will work with hospitals and physicians to find ways to improve patient safety and clinical care.
In addition, Anthem said it will pay only an appropriate amount and no additional charges for events such as objects left in a body during surgery, certain infections following surgery, hospital-acquired injuries, blood incompatibility and others.
The changes in reimbursement will take effect later this year, Anthem officials said, and are aimed at eliminating preventable adverse events.
2 comments:
Maybe all private insurances will follow. That would send a big message
Maybe then hospitals will pull it together. I hope more private insurances follow.
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