DENVER – Colorado Governor Bill Ritter issued an executive order last week directing the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to craft new safety guidelines, including the denial of payment for avoidable medical errors.

"Improving quality is a central part of our health reform agenda as we re-shape the future of care in Colorado," Ritter said. "A key part of improving quality is improving patient safety, and providing hospitals with an incentive - not paying for avoidable mistakes - will help accomplish that goal."

The executive order directs the department to:

• Implement a policy to deny or reduce payments for inpatient hospital Medicaid claims for procedures that involve avoidable medical errors known as "serious reportable events."
• Work with other health organizations to help create a patient safety organization. The organization will promote quality improvement, patient wellness and patient safety by analyzing serious reportable events and identifying the causes of such events.

Ritter praised the Colorado Hospital Association and consumer advocates for agreeing to collaborate with the department on new patient-safety policies.

The Ritter administration has taken a number of steps to improve healthcare quality in Colorado. Last year Governor Ritter created the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, a public-private initiative to improve quality and contain costs.

The Governor's Office, through legislation and budget action, has also:

• Invested in the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization to promote electronic medical records;
• Ensured that every child in Medicaid and the states's Child Health Plan Plus has a "medical home";
• Increased transparency in private insurance to better inform consumers about the products they are purchasing.