Federal government issues $2.6 million penalty against Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) -  The federal government has issued a penalty to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for re-admissions and hospital-acquired conditions.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will withhold $2.6 million of the hospital's payment for the upcoming fiscal year.

That's more than a million dollars less than last year's penalty, according to Carilion.

The hospital was also rewarded for the first time for its performance with value-based purchasing

Dr. Jon Gleason, Vice President of Clinical Advancement for Carilion Clinic, issued this statement about the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Reward and Penalties for Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital

Patient safety is the number one priority at Carilion Clinic. Even one adverse outcome – such as a hospital acquired infection – is one too many in our eyes.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has three main programs that reward or penalize hospitals for clinical outcomes, and the value of the care provided. For fiscal year 2017, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital was rewarded with a bonus in one program, and was penalized in two.  The total impact of these three programs will be a withholding of an estimated $2.6 million, which is more than a million dollars less than the withholdings from last year. It is also important to note that these rewards and penalties are based upon data from fiscal years 2013 to 2015, and they do not reflect our current performance.

Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital is the region's largest referral hospital and the region's only Level-1 Trauma Center. As such, we have the great responsibility of taking care of the most complex patients – those in need of more acute care due to their conditions or the severity of their illnesses. Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital's performance is in line with similar tertiary care centers across the commonwealth, and from around the country.  We have an expansive Quality and Patient Safety program at Carilion Clinic that is working around the clock to continue to improve our performance – especially for outcomes that matter most to our patients.