Medicare cuts payment to Meadville Medical Center for 2018

Jan. 06--Meadville Medical Center will see about a $200,000 drop in its federal Medicare payments for 2018 -- one of 32 Pennsylvania hospitals and 751 nationwide being penalized by the federal government for high rates of infections and injuries that took place within their facilities.

All of the hospitals penalized will receive a 1 percent reduction in Medicare payments for 2018, said Rene Suntay, the hospital's chief financial officer.

"We get about $20 million to $21 million a year in Medicare payments so it's about $200,000 for us," Suntay said Friday.

The penalties were created four years ago under the federal Affordable Care Act as a program to be a financial incentive for hospitals to avoid infections and other mishaps, such as blood clots and bedsores.

The penalty imposed on Meadville Medical Center is from July 2014 through September 2015 covering six cases -- mostly for patient bedsores, Suntay said.

"We were developing monitor procedures and protocol (for the program) at that time," Suntay said.

As part of the protocols and procedures developed by MMC, the hospital purchased several hospital air mattresses, Suntay said.

Hospital air mattresses specifically are designed for individuals prone to bed sores or pressure ulcers, such as elderly individuals or bedridden patients. The mattresses function by evenly distributing the weight of a patient.

How the penalty will be imposed and how Meadville Medical Center will make up the $200,000 reduction still is being determined, Suntay said. The federal fiscal year of 2018 runs from October 2017 through September 2018.

"We're in negotiations," Suntay said of the penalty.

The hospital gets Medicare reimbursement monthly, but it's currently unknown if the Medicare payment reduction will be done monthly, quarterly or as a one-time charge, Suntay said.

To make up the revenue lost by the penalty, the hospital is looking at various maintenance contracts coming due -- everything from equipment to laundry -- as a way to reduce expenses, he said.

An analysis by Kaiser Health News found that hospitals which treat higher proportions of people with lower incomes were more likely to be fined than hospitals that mostly serve people who are better off.

"The hospital industry faults them as unfairly punishing hospitals that treat sicker patients and those that do a better job of identifying infections and other patient complications," Kaiser Health News analysis said. "Patient advocates say that, while not perfect, the penalties have been a valuable prod to make hospital executives consider more than the bottom line."

Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.

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