In late 2014, Medicare began penalizing hospitals that rank in the worst-performing 25% of hospitals nationwide. Hospitals who make the undistinguished list, based on the rate of hospital-acquired conditions, are hit with a 1% reimbursement rate reduction by Medicare.
Hospital-acquired conditions refer to illnesses or conditions that the patient didn’t have when walking into the hospital. Rather, they are new injuries caused by the healthcare that’s provided.
As a former hospital administrator, I know that hospital leaders pay close attention to the financial bottom line. I also can’t imagine that anyone would want their facility to be on this list. What surprises me, though, is how often hospitals remain on this list for multiple years in a row. This suggests to me that they have a serious problem with hiring, training, and supervising competent staff members.
For fiscal year 2018, the results are in. A total of 59 Texas hospitals made this year’s Medicare bottom-quarter list. As I looked through the list, I’m very familiar with several of these hospitals throughout the State of Texas based on medical malpractice cases that I’ve handled. Here’s the list:
University Medical Center of El Paso
Providence Health Center
Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital
UT Health East Texas Tyler Regional Hospital
North Texas Medical Center
Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas
Val Verde Regional Medical Center
Hereford Regional Medical Center
Scott & White Hospital Brenham
Paris Regional Medical Center
Northwest Texas Hospital
CHI St. Luke’s Health Memorial Lufkin
University Health System
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Llano
Christus Center Rosa Medical Center
Wise Regional Health System
Harris Health System
Texoma Medical Center
Huntsville Memorial Hospital
Navarro Regional Hospital
Woodland Heights Medical Center
Memorial Hospital
Palo Pinto General Hospital
Shannon Medical Center
Cuero Regional Hospital
Care Regional Medical Center
Clear Lake Regional Medical Center
West Houston Medical Center
Starr County Memorial Hospital
Valley Regional Medical Center
Tomball Regional Medical Center
Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth
Medical City Arlington
El Campo Memorial Hospital
Southwest General Hospital
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton
Covenant Hospital Levelland
United Memorial Medical Center
Medical Center Allen
Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital
Baylor Scott & White Texas Spine & Joint Hospital
Lubbock Heart Hospital LP
Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano
Texas Health Center for Diagnostics & Surgery Plano
North Cypress Medical Center
The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Rockwall
Cook Children’s Northeast Hospital, LLC
St. Luke’s Sugar Land Hospital
Seton Medical Center Hays
Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital Arlington
Aspire Behavioral Health of Conroe, ::C
Emil J. Freireich Cancer Center
Ad Hospital East, LLC
Pearland Medical Center
Humble Surgical Hospital, LLC
Cleveland Emergency Hospital
Providence Hospital of North Houston LLC
The Hospitals of Providence Transmountain Campus
