CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Six West Virginia hospitals will lose 1 percent of their Medicare reimbursement after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that each had high rates of potentially avoidable “hospital acquired conditions,” including falls, bed sores and certain infections.
Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg, Cabell-Huntington Hospital in Huntington, Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital in Weston, Wetzel County Hospital in New Martinsville and Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling were in the top 25 percent of hospitals for HAC prevalence, according to the CMS report.
CMS scored hospitals on the prevalence of three risk factors to their Medicare population patients: central line bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections and serious complications, a catch-all group made up of eight types of injuries, including blood clots, falls and bed sores.
Nationally, 724 hospitals have had their Medicare funding reduced, according to CMS. That loss of funding will account for a total reduction in spending of $373 million, the agency said, although funding can be reinstated for hospitals whose scores improve in upcoming years.
Each hospital received a score between 1 and 10 for each category, with 1 being the best and 10 the worst. Any hospital with a composite score greater than 7 fell into the bottom quartile and became subject to the penalty…
