Ayla Ellison (Twitter) – 2 days ago Print  | Email

More than 2,000 hospitals have been penalized at least once in the eight years since the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program began. Fifty-five hospitals have been penalized all eight years, according to Kaiser Health News. 

The Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program aims to prevent harm to patients by providing a financial incentive for hospitals to prevent hospital-acquired conditions. Under the program, a hospital’s total score is based on performance on several quality measures, including rates of infections, blood clots and other complications that occur in hospitals and might have been prevented.

Each year, Medicare cuts payments by 1 percent for hospitals that fall in the worst-performing quartile. CMS will trim 764 hospitals’ Medicare payments in fiscal year 2022 for having the highest rates of patient injuries and infections. 

The hospital industry has argued the program’s design punishes hospitals that test most thoroughly for infections, since these facilities will appear to have the highest rates of infection, while those with less-thorough testing might appear to have lower rates. 

CMS said it can’t substantially alter the program. 

“CMS is committed to ensuring safety and quality of care for hospital patients through a variety of initiatives,” CMS told Kaiser Health News. “Much of how the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program is structured, including penalty amounts, is determined by law.”

Here are the 55 hospitals that have been penalized all eight years of the program, according to Kaiser Health News. 

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