Quality Improvement & Patient Safety Section

QIPS TIPS #33: Falling for You!

Shari Welch , MD, FACHE, FACEP 

As you now know, in 2008 CMS identified ten categories of conditions that will no longer be reimbursed. The implementation of this rule is now being felt by hospitals and providers. On a gut level the change does not seem unreasonable. The new rule basically says that if something bad happens to a patient in the hospital, the hospital does not get paid to treat that condition. These so-called Hospital Acquired Conditions include one entity particularly relevant for the emergency department: Falls and Trauma.