Medicaid’s New Rule Creates More Awareness of Patient Safety Says Nexus Insurance Services

In an effort to promote patient safety in the medical field, beginning July 1, 2011, Medicaid will no longer pay for “Never Events”. This follows in the footsteps of Medicare’s ruling back in 2007 that the federal government would no longer pay health care providers who make these types of mistakes. This means that the hospital will have to cover extra expenses that arise from any additional problems a patient may endure.

The phrase “Never Event” was coined by Ken Kizer, MD, former CEO of the National Quality Forum (NQF), which referred to medical errors that should never happen. Medical errors such as wrong site surgery, surgery being performed on the wrong patient, patient falls, and transfusion with the wrong blood type are just a few examples of these “Never Events”.

A study supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality analyzed information from nearly 3 million operations between 1985 - 2004, and researchers reported that 1 in 112,994 wrong-site operations occurred.

Although Never Events are rare, these types of mistakes do happen. It’s up to the medical community to work more towards eliminating Never Events completely.

“Never Events are devastating and very much preventable. With both Medicare and Medicaid taking steps to increase accountability, hopefully this will create more awareness in the medical community and improve patient care,” says Michael Kataf of Nexus Insurance Services.

Since Medicare began its policy of not paying for preventable mistakes, many private insurers have followed suit. Companies such as Cigna will not pay for Never Events and has implemented incentives for hospitals who follow standards to improve patient safety.

“At Nexus Insurance Services, it is one of our goals to help our clients focus on providing the best care for their patients. As a medical malpractice insurance broker, we want to do our part to keep health care costs down in any way that we can,” says Kataf.

About Nexus Insurance Services

Nexus Insurance Services is a professional insurance broker that has helped many doctors, lawyers, realtors, and business owners gain access to insurance providers for their practice or business. The company's mission is to be a firm that brings real value to clients, builds personal relationships on top of business ones, and always conducts itself with sincerity, integrity and fairness. Because of the relationships with many providers, the company is able to shop a client's application around to get the best rates. Contact Nexus Insurance for a free, no obligation quote for medical malpractice insurance, professional liability insurance, or workers compensation insurance. For more information, visit: http://www.nexus-insurance.net

Michael Kataf
Nexus Insurance Services
15 Edelweiss
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688
Phone: 800-459-3353
Fax: 888-600-6280
Email: info@nexus-insurance.com

This release was published on openPR.