The Cleveland Clinic has corrected consent-form violations that could have cost millions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, according Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer.
A January inspection by the Ohio Department of Health on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that Clinic patients were going into surgery without written consent forms and their medical records were incomplete, The Plain Dealer reported.
Inspectors also were unable to tell whether a patient’s complaint (which started the investigation) had been handled properly because the Clinic declined to provide some information.
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The violations have since been corrected to the satisfaction of both agencies, The Plain Dealer said. CMS can cut off Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements if violations are found and not addressed within 90 days.
The Clinic was in the process of adding patient-signed consent forms at the time of the inspection, Dr. Michael Henderson, the Clinic’s chief quality officer told the newspaper. Until then, the hospital had been going on verbal consents, Henderson said.
Really? Verbal consents in today’s litigious medical environment?
While neither agency identified the patient who filed the complaint, the investigation report said it was David Antoon, the retired Air Force colonel from the Dayton, Ohio area who sued the Clinic last month alleging that a botched prostate surgery at the hospital left him impotent and incontinent.
The Clinic said Antoon’s outcome was regrettable, but the result of a recognized complication. It also said Antoon’s lawsuit “contains numerous inaccuracies and we plan to fully respond in the course of the litigation.”
A key finding in the investigation report: The Clinic failed to show evidence it had taken appropriate and reasonable actions to resolve Antoon’s complaint, according to The Plain Dealer.
