Three Arizona hospitals are being penalized for the third straight year for the high rate of patient injuries and infections. Those facilities now face consequences that can cost thousands of dollars in Medicare payments.
Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson, Florence Hospital at Anthem, and Maricopa Medical Center saw high rates of avoidable infections and complications such as blood clots, bed sores and falls.
As part of the Affordable Care Act’s Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program, hospitals with high instances of poor patient safety will lose 1 percent of each Medicare payment.
A total of 15 hospitals in Arizona will be penalized during the 2017 federal fiscal year, which started in October.
Nationally, 769 of the more than 3,203 hospitals rated will have their payments cut this year.
