Medicare plans to hit error-prone hospitals where it hurts: in the pocketbook, according to the Associated Press. It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

“Beginning on October 1, Medicare no longer will pay the added costs for eight preventable hospital errors, including catheter-caused urinary tract infections, injuries from falls, and leaving objects in the body after surgery,” AP reports. “Nor can hospitals bill injured patients for the extra costs.”

The move is expected to save the government about $190 million over five years. More important than the cost savings, hopefully this decision will lead to improved hospital healthcare. I also envision a time when plaintiff’s attorneys use these Medicare decisions not to pay as powerful evidence for a jury that a hospital committed an error; maybe even going so far as to call a Medicare employee to testify.

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