It pays to do the right thing
Facility accountability to stem preventable events is mounting as is evident by the increasing cost and consequences for retained surgical items.
- Government and commercial insurer non-payment policies for preventable events and corrective care
- State fines, some that increase for repeat violations ($50K, $75K, $100K)
- Minimized earnings from lump-sum ACO or bundled payment arrangements
- Low quality rankings by states, standards organizations and patient safety groups
- Damaging consumer media
- Rising legal and indemnity costs
- Staff time redirected to event reporting, root cause analyses and corrective action planning
In 2013, medical malpractice insurer CRICO paid up to $75,000 in first-year capital costs to encourage member hospitals to adopt automated sponge counting technology.12