The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized three national coverage determinations (NCDs) on preventable surgical “never events” including performing the wrong surgery on a patient, performing surgery on the wrong body part, and performing surgery on the wrong patient.
As described in a Dec. 3, 2008, HFMA News feature on the proposed NCDs, the effect of these surgical errors will not be limited to payments to hospitals for inpatient stays, as is the case with “never event” hospital-acquired condition provisions in the Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rules. Instead, these NCDs could affect payment to hospitals, physicians, and any other healthcare providers and suppliers involved in the erroneous surgeries.
Read the release.
