Twin Cities Community Hospital may be treating itself for a slight black eye during 2015.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) released a list on Dec. 18 that placed the Templeton-based hospital in the worst 10th percentile of an assessment measuring hospital-acquired conditions. The assessment is part of the hospital-acquired condition reduction program, mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Those performing in the worst 25 percentile will receive a 1 percent reduction in Medicare payments in the next fiscal year. According to a new release from CMS, the program saves Medicare $30 million annually.
A spokesperson for Twin Cities Community Hospital declined to comment, telling New Times that the hospital’s administration was still processing the report’s results.
The hospital received a nine rating on a scale of 10, with 10 measuring the most frequent incidents of hospital-acquired conditions between July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2013. The program is in its early stages, and so far is only assessing catheter-associated urinary tract infections and central-line associated bloodstream infections. The following fiscal year will also assess conditions related to colon surgeries and abdominal hysterectomies.
— Melody DeMeritt – former city council member, Morro Bay
This article appears in Dec 25, 2014 – Jan 1, 2015.