St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City is among 17 Utah medical centers that will be punished by the federal government for having too many patients return for care after treatment.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released records last week identifying 2,573 hospitals nationwide that will have their Medicare payments reduced by up to 3 percent in the 2018 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 as a result of for high readmission rates, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Health News.
Readmissions following medical procedures are problematic because they can increase a patient’s risk for complications such as infections, and significantly boost costs.