Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made certain information regarding safety issues in hospitals public information. Data tracking “hospital acquired conditions” – injuries/conditions a patient suffers that they did not enter the hospital with – are now available to the public. They are serious conditions that if proper procedures are less likely to occur. They have been deemed “never events” and CMS does not pay for services related to these injuries. The injuries include:

• Foreign object retained after surgery
• Air embolism
• Blood incompatibility
• Pressure ulcer states III and IV
• Falls and trauma
• Vascular catheter-associated infection
• Catheter-associated UTI
• Manifestations of poor glycemic control

You can download the most recent results online here. Now, you can now know your area hospitals before you become a patient in regards to these serious conditions.