You asked for information on a recently passed Maine law prohibiting hospitals from charging for treatment to correct medical mistakes.

SUMMARY

Beginning in July 2008, a new Maine law will prohibit health care facilities from charging for treatment to correct medical errors. This legislation is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

MAINE LAW PROHIBITING HOSPITALS FROM CHARGING FOR TREATMENT TO CORRECT MEDICAL ERRORS

The Maine legislation prohibits a health care facility (defined as a licensed hospital or ambulatory surgical center) “from knowingly charging a patient or the patient's insurer for health care services it provided as a result of or to correct a mistake or preventable adverse event caused by that health care facility” (P.L. Ch. 605; L.D. 2044, attached). The law requires health care facilities to inform patients of this prohibition.

The new law lists 28 mistakes or preventable adverse events that are within the health care facility's control to avoid. The list, taken from recommendations of the National Quality Forum, is as follows:

1. surgery performed on the wrong body part;

2. surgery performed on the wrong patient;

3. the wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient;

4. unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or another procedure;

5. intraoperative or immediately postoperative preventable death of a patient classified as a normal healthy patient under guidelines published by a national association of anesthesiologists;

6. patient death or serious disability caused by the use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics provided by a hospital or ambulatory surgical center;

7. patient death or serious disability caused by the use or function of a device in patient care in which the device is used for functions other than as intended;

8. patient death or serious disability caused by an intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a health care facility;

9. an infant's being discharged to the wrong person;

10. patient death or serious disability caused by a patient's elopement for more than four hours;

11. patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in serious disability while being cared for in a health care facility;

12. patient death or serious disability caused by a medication error such as an error involving the wrong drug dose, patient, time, rate, preparation or route of administration;

13. patient death or serious disability caused by a hemolytic reaction due to the administration of incompatible blood or blood products;

14. maternal death or serious disability caused by labor or delivery in a low-risk pregnancy, labor and delivery while being cared for in a health care facility;

15. patient death or serious disability caused by hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is being cared for in a health care facility;

16. death or serious disability caused by failure to identify and treat hyperbilirubinemia (jaundice) in neonates prior to discharge;

17. stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a health care facility;

18. patient death or serious disability due to spinal manipulative therapy;

19. patient death or serious disability caused by an electric shock while being cared for in a health care facility;

20. any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances;

21. patient death or serious disability caused by a burn incurred from any source while being cared for in a health care facility;

22. patient death caused by a fall by a patient who was or should have been identified as requiring precautions due to risk of falling while being cared for in a health care facility;

23. patient death or serious disability caused by the use of restraints or bedrails while being cared for in a health care facility;

24. any instance of care ordered by or provided by someone impersonating a physician, nurse, pharmacist or other licensed health care provider;

25. abduction of a patient of any age;

26. sexual assault of a patient within a health care facility;

27. death or significant injury of a patient resulting from a physical assault that occurs within a health care facility; and

28. artificial insemination with the wrong donor sperm or donor egg.

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