Previous rules specified hospitals would receive reduced payments for hospital-acquired conditions, including catheter-associated urinary tract infections, surgical site infections and foreign objects retained after surgery.
Until the new rule, states could choose whether to pay for some complications, and only 29 states developed non-payment policies for the conditions. The new rule will apply to all states. HHS predicts the rule will have a minimal impact on hospitals because most facilities have already implemented prevention programs that target HACs.
Read the CMIO report on Medicaid.
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