4 Pittsburgh Hospitals Penalized For High Rates Of Patient Injuries

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Four Pittsburgh hospitals are among 32 hospitals in the state and more than 700 hospitals nationwide to be penalized for high rates of patient injuries in 2017.

Kaiser Health News reports that 751 hospitals have been hit with safety penalties for 2018, meaning those hospitals will lose 1 percent of Medicare payments from October 2017 through the end of September 2018.

The four Pittsburgh hospitals that landed on the list were Allegheny General Hospital, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, UPMC St. Margaret and West Penn Hospital. All four of those hospitals were also penalized last year.

Twenty-eight other hospitals in Pennsylvania were penalized, including Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Heritage Valley Sewickley, Indiana Regional Medical Center and Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills.

According to Kaiser Health News, "the program is designed as a financial incentive for hospitals to avoid infections and other mishaps, such as blood clots and bedsores."

The full list of penalized hospitals can be found here: khn.org/news/751-hospitals-hit-with-safety-penalties-for-2018-data-table/