In 2008, Medicare adopted a policy of denying extra payment for catheter-associated UTIs, which occur in a quarter of patients with catheters. About 60 to 85 percent of all hospital-acquired UTIs are catheter-associated as well.
The study examined patients from 96 acute-care Michigan hospitals one year before and one year after the Medicare ruling. The researchers discovered hospitals frequently requested payment for non-CAUTIs as secondary diagnoses in 2007 and 2009. Hospital rates of CAUTIs remained low, 0.09 percent in 2007 and 0.14 percent in 2009.
They concluded catheter-associated UTI rates determined by claims data seem to be inaccurate, and the nonpayment policy is having little financial impact on hospitals.
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