Skiff facing penalty from Medicare

Skiff Medical Center is one of three Iowa hospitals facing penalties from Medicare due to scores relating to the hospital-acquired condition reduction program.

Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older and certain younger people with disabilities, has started penalizing hospitals that fail to prevent patients getting hospital-acquired conditions. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Trinity Hospital in Bettendorf are the other Iowa hospitals being penalized.

“Since the time of these reports, Skiff has made significant improvements to minimize risk in important areas such as falls, catheter infections, pressure ulcers and other hospital-acquired conditions,” said Sheryl Tilus, Skiff chief nursing officer. “These improvements are thanks to outstanding work completed by our dedicated staff members.”

What that means for Skiff is a 1 percent reduction of its inpatient Medicare reimbursement from Oct. 2014 through Sept. 2015. Since a large number of patients that use Skiff also use Medicare, it could make a difference on the bottom line, but the hospital is optimistic about its current status. The scores on the reports, Tilus said, were not based on recent Medicare patient data, but on data from July 2011 through June 2013. Since that time, Skiff has taken steps to improve the amount of hospital-acquired conditions patience are effected by.

Skiff CEO Brett Altman said the hospital is in the minority of facilities that are required to report the data. Of the 118 hospitals in Iowa, 82 are critical access and are not effected by the program.

“As one of the smallest hospitals required to report,” Altman said. “Skiff has a small sample size, a small number of incidences can negatively impact our scores.”

According to the report, 724 qualifying hospitals in the country will be penalized. Medicare, through the program, saves approximately $30 million each year. The savings are the result of not providing additional Medicare payment for the treatment of certain reasonably preventable condition when those conditions are acquired after the beneficiary has been admitted to the hospital.

“While this is not the kind of publicity Skiff wants to see, please know that it just serves as a reminder of how far we’ve come in a short time. This news, while unfortunate, comes from our past, and we are already moving quickly into a strong, positive future,” Altman said. “This is thanks in no small part to the support our community provides not only to Skiff, but to our employees and physicians, who are making our great future possible.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com