CHATTANOOGA– A constant topic in the public debate is healthcare. Yet, care has become a victim to managed costs when decisions are made by individuals or entities that have never seen you as a patient or sought for a diagnostic decision.
A growing problem in the pursuit of healthcare is the vast number of medical decisions made, not by your doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, but by an administrative process that overrides a decision or prescribed service or intervention.
On top of all of this, every day we hear horrific stories of medical malpractice, elder abuse, neglect, billing fraud and so on. In November, Tennessee inspectors found widespread neglect resulting in patients’ deaths at a Memphis nursing home. The most important thing to do when one of these issues occur, or if you believe something is happening, is to immediately contact a lawyer. Speak to no one other than a trained healthcare legal professional. Otherwise, you risk thousands of dollars in potential compensation and legal justice because you will not understand and know your rights.
The Law Firm of Thomas & Thomas is prepared to assist you or your family when abuse, neglect or indifference to healthcare needs has occurred.
In the November 12, 2017 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), the unintended consequences that included premature death were documented from the adoption of practices by hospitals to avoid a financial penalty driven by reimbursement of patients who may need readmission, specifically due to heart failure.
The most common cause of readmission to the hospital among patients insured by Medicare is heart failure at a cost of $1.7 billion to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Since the implementation of policy in 2010, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program assesses a financial penalty to hospitals through lower reimbursement for heart failure patients readmitted within a month after initial discharge.
The JAMA study analyzed 115,245 patients at 416 hospitals to record a reduction of the readmission rate from 57.2% prior to the new program to 56.3% in this Medicare population. However, simultaneously, the mortality rate rose from 31.3% to 36.3% in this same population.
Do you believe you or your family member has received inadequate healthcare due to a reimbursement decision made by a hospital? Have questions about medical malpractice, elder abuse, neglect, billing fraud, or other healthcare related legal issues?
Let Thomas & Thomas assist you and represent your interests, not those of a reimbursement model of a hospital. Call the Law Firm of Thomas & Thomas at (423) 910-9100 or email us at info@TWTLawFirm.com.