Four North Georgia hospitals face fines for having too many patients readmitted within a month after they've been discharged, a fine that is part of the Affordable Care Act. A new survey shows two-thirds of Georgia hospitals face fines this year.
In north Georgia, Chestatee Regional Hospital in Dahlonega, Fannin Regional Hospital in Blue Ridge, Habersham Medical Center in Demorest and Elbert Memorial Hospital in Elberton all face penalties of more than 1-percent. The highest of those four is Elbert Memorial.
According to a recent article in Georgia Health News, the idea is to have hospitals pay closer attention to what happens to patients after they're released from a hospital visit. Under Obamacare provisions, Medicare can levy fines against hospitals who have too many readmissions.
The fines are based on readmissions between July 2011 and June 2014 and include Medicare patients who were originally hospitalized for heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, chronic lung problems or elective hip or knee replacements, according to the publication.
The national average for excessive readmissions is 54-percent, so Georgia's 67-percent far outpaces the nation.
