Illinois insurer to stop paying for errors
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
August 13, 2008
Another insurer has announced it will no longer pay hospitals for egregious errors, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, the state’s largest insurer, will no longer pay claims for so-called never events, such as leaving a sponge inside a patient’s body after surgery.
"The majority of hospitals do not bill us for never events, but given the complexity of billing, billing systems, and billing agencies, some never events may slip through," Illinois Blue Cross spokesperson Jack Segal told the Tribune. "With this new policy in place, we can work to close the gaps, and also focus on improving quality." Segal would not say which errors the insurer would halt payment for when the new policy kicks in at the end of this year.
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