A new study in the April 17, 2013 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found a possible connection between hospitals’ possible financial profit and post-surgical complications.
Researchers found that there are effective methods of reducing surgical complications. However, many hospitals are slow to implement these methods. Researchers believe that some of the reasons for the slow implementation of methods that could reduce complications are because the reduction of post-surgical complications “can reduce revenues under per diem reimbursement schemes and even diagnosis-related, group-based reimbursement because complications can result in severity adjustments or diagnosis-related group changes that increase revenues. … Previous estimates suggest that reducing surgical complications could harm hospital financial results but have been limited by use of small data sets or simplified surrogates such as patient length of stay.”
The rate of post-surgical complications is estimated to be between 3 and 17.4 percent. These complications not only result in significant financial costs, but may also result in significant physical harm to the patients suffering from the complications.
Reducing post-surgical complications could result in poor near-term financial performance for many U.S. hospitals.
Researchers stop short of suggesting that doctors and hospitals purposefully harm patients for financial gain. However, they do suggest that changes need to be made to protect patients from harm.
If you have suffered a post-surgical complication in a Kentucky hospital, then our Louisville medical malpractice lawyers extend their best wishes to you for a full and fast recovery from your injuries, and we wish you the best for a healthy and happy future.