LEWISTON, Maine — Central Maine Medical Center is in jeopardy of losing Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initially told the hospital it would no longer pay for Medicare patients admitted to the hospital starting on May 4. CMS just recently extended the deadline giving the hospital until the end of June to address certain problems before further action is taken.
According to the Sun Journal, a January investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found several problems, including the failure of hospital leaders to ensure that a life-changing medical error was thoroughly reviewed, failure of hospital leaders to prevent that hospital to identify and address documentation disparities in that person’s medical record, and multiple failures by the hospital to stick to its own policy on patient grievances.
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CMMC leaders declined to answer questions about the situation but did release a statement Thursday:
“We take every patient complaint and all feedback very seriously. While some complaints were found to be unsubstantiated, the CMS identified areas for improvement. We are working very closely with CMS to address those areas and to ensure that we continue to provide safe, reliable and high-quality care.”
While the full amount of federal funding the hospital could lose is unclear, the Sun Journal reported that Central Maine Medical Center received $72 million in just Medicare funds in 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available.