5 St. Louis-area hospitals penalized for high rate of patient injuries

Five St. Louis-area hospitals have been penalized for having some of the nation’s highest rates of patient injuries, Kaiser Health News reported.

Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, Christian Hospital Northeast-Northwest, SSM Health DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton, SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton and SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis were among 751 hospitals who had their Medicare payments lowered by the federal government to penalize them for high rates of patient injuries, according to medicare.gov. No metro-east hospitals were penalized.

All except for SSM Health St. Clair Hospital in Fenton were penalized in 2017 as well.

The penalty was created four years ago by the Affordable Care Act, and acts as a financial incentive for hospitals to avoid infections, blood clots and bedsores, among other things, Kaiser Health News reported.

Factors considered in enforcing the penalty include:

▪  Rates of infections from hysterectomies, colon surgeries, urinary tract catheters and central line tubes in veins

▪  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) rates

▪  Clostridium difficile (C-diff) rates

▪  In-hospital injuries like bed sores, hip fractures, blood clots, sepsis and post-surgical wound ruptures

Hospitals that rank in the worst-performing quartile for hospital-acquired conditions have their Medicare payments lowered, according to medicare.gov.

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 4:55 PM with the headline "5 St. Louis-area hospitals penalized for high rate of patient injuries."