CMS penalized San Antonio-based University Health System for having hospital-acquired infection and patient injury rates in the bottom 25 percent nationally in 2018, Rivard Report reports.
What you should know:
1. This is the fifth consecutive year UHS placed in the bottom 25 percent. CMS penalized the entire UHS system.
2. CMS issued a $973,000 fine. In total, UHS has paid some $3.5 million in penalties.
3. The health system defended itself saying CMS' data does not reflect the improvements the health system made.
4. UHS Senior Vice President of Clinical Services Emily Volk, MD, said, "We are concerned about the clinical outcomes for all patients, and have focused our attention not only on those patients who develop those outcomes, but on the leading risk factors that [contribute to] these outcomes."
5. To support her claims, Dr. Volk said 15 nursing units in the hospital had "zero of one or more hospital-acquired conditions for at least a year." She said the hospital is working to implement programs to have zero hospital-acquired infections across the whole hospital.