Leape: CMS changes are a welcome development for patient safety
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
August 29, 2007
Harvard professor and Institute of Medicine Committee member Lucian Leape, MD, penned a column in The Boston Globe lauding the CMS' decision to stop payment on eight types of patient safety "never events."
Leape said the move comes after years of frustrated patients waiting in vain for hospitals to seriously address patient safety issues. With the Medicare payments for specific events now coming to an end, hospitals have greater incentives than ever to find cost-effective ways to increase safety and eliminate errors.
Leape dismissed claims that eliminating errors was impossible, saying efforts in Michigan to eliminate central-line infections shows that a standardized, consistent method of treatment is effective in preventing mistakes.
