Medicare penalizes 4 Maine hospitals for poor patient safety

YORK, Maine (AP) - Four Maine hospitals are being penalized by Medicare for ranking among the bottom 25 percent of U.S. hospitals in patient safety.

Maine Public Radio reports the action is being taken against more than 700 hospitals nationwide for their rates of hospital acquired conditions like bedsores and accidental falls.

York Hospital, in York, Southern Maine Health Care, in Biddeford, Cary Medical Center, in Caribou, and Central Maine Medical Center, in Lewiston are the impacted hospitals. The Bangor Daily News reports this is the third year in a row that Central Maine is facing Medicare penalties.

Central Maine President David Tuppence says he is working to make the hospital more clinically driven.

The penalized hospitals will have their Medicare reimbursements reduced by 1 percent for the 2018 fiscal year.