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Under the agreement, hospitals in Minnesota will not bill insurancecompanies and others for any of the 27 types of reported "adverse healthevents," ensuring that patients will not have to pay for care made necessaryby an adverse event. The adverse health events are defined by the NationalQuality Forum. The Governor's Health Care Cabinet endorsed the plan created bythe Minnesota Hospital Association and the Minnesota Council of Health Plans.The policy builds on Minnesota's history of leadership in this area.
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"It seems obvious to us, but Minnesota is the first state in the nation toagree that patients, employers and insurers shouldn't pay for care madenecessary by an adverse health event," Governor Pawlenty said. "I want tothank our hospitals and health plans for their leadership in addressing thisissue. We hope more states will follow our lead."
"One adverse health event is too many," Minnesota Hospital AssociationPresident Bruce Rueben said. "Our highest priority is to eliminate preventableerrors in health care delivery. Until that happens, patients can haveconfidence they will never have to pay for care made necessary by an adverseevent."
This policy formalizes the current billing practice of Minnesotahospitals. "Health plans are partnering with providers to ensure thisstatewide policy is implemented for every patient, every time," said JulieBrunner, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans.
Minnesota has a history of leadership in this area. In 2003, GovernorPawlenty signed nation-leading legislation establishing the Adverse HealthEvents Reporting law, requiring Minnesota hospitals, surgical centers andbehavioral health hospitals to publicly report any occurrence of 27 "adversehealth events." These events include wrong-site surgeries, serious medicationerrors, and sponges or other objects left behind in a patient at the end ofsurgery, to name a few.
In 2006, Minnesota facilities reported adverse health events occurring 154times out of more than 8 million patient visits. Minnesota hospitals haveutilized this information to share best practices and improve health carequality.
Learning leads to improved safety
Minnesota hospitals individually recognized the need for a proactivebilling policy, and HealthPartners, a Minnesota-based insurer, was at theforefront of the issue, enacting a 2005 payment policy for care provided totheir enrollees. Over the last few years, Blue Cross Blue Shield workedclosely with the hospital association to create the framework for thisstatewide policy.
The Adverse Health Events Reporting law is an effective tool that allowshospitals to learn from events and make proactive changes to improve healthcare safety. This year, the Minnesota Hospital Association launched twocomprehensive campaigns to address pressure ulcers and patient falls. Thesecampaigns were created from national and local best practices, including keyfindings from events reported by Minnesota hospitals over the last threeyears.
The Minnesota Hospital Association is a trade association representingMinnesota's hospitals and health systems.
Established in 1985, the Minnesota Council of Health Plans is a tradeassociation of eight licensed nonprofit health plans. Council members havepioneered a style of health care that has improved quality and consumersatisfaction and expanded access to health care for all Minnesotans. TheCouncil and its members are leaders in health care reform, practice guidelinesdevelopment, qu
