State links billing rates to hospital performances

On July 1, the state's hospitals will receive financial incentives based on the steps taken to prevent complications. The system will be based on a list of 64 preventable complications including collapsed lungs and infections of the urinary tract and in the blood.

Hospitals will be measured on how they address these complications, which patients develop during hospitalization. After a year, state regulators will give hospitals feedback on their performance, and that outcome will impact how much each hospital can charge patients.

During fiscal 2008, preventable complications were seen in 55,000 inpatient cases...