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HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Medicare is shaving payments to 12 Mississippi hospitals because too many patients come down with preventable new ailments while being treated for something else.
The hospitals are among 721 nationwide losing 1 percent of their Medicare payments for the current fiscal year, The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/1zh9hay) reported.
Conditions tracked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for such purposes include blood clots, bedsores, falls, urinary tract infections associated with catheters, and bloodstream infections associated with tubes inserted into a vein to deliver medicine or fluid.
The hospitals include the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Dr. Charles O'Mara, the hospital's vice chancellor for clinical affairs, said the data was collected two years ago.
Since then, he said, "We have been hard at work establishing practices and procedures that are reducing the risk of hospital-acquired conditions in our institution. We still have lots of work to do, and we have committed to the never-ending process of continual improvement."
Other hospitals on the list were: Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center South Campus, Meridian; Baptist Memorial Hospital DeSoto, Southaven; Bolivar Medical Center, Cleveland; Choctaw Health Center, Philadelphia; Crossgates River Oaks Hospital, Brandon; Delta Regional Medical Center, Greenville; Garden Park Medical Center, Gulfport; Highland Community Hospital, Picayune; Jasper General Hospital, Bay Springs; Oktibbeha Regional Medical Center, Starkville; and South Central Regional Medical Center, Laurel.
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Online:
CMMS on hospital-acquired conditions: http://go.cms.gov/1ANCx6t
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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com
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