Quality and Safety

The study spotlights the best-performing hospitals based on a scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational and patient satisfaction metrics.

The message is clear: If organizations don't do what it takes to make the patient experience as good as possible, consumers will simply bring their business elsewhere.

Those on the 50 Best Hospitals list have received their Clinical Excellence award for at least seven consecutive years, Healthgrades said.

Pharmacies, pain management clinics, drug testing facilities and individual physicians fall under the DOJ's microscope.

Roughly 9,886 lives and $2.43 billion could be saved annually with a 50 percent cut in cases, researchers said.

Frost and Sullivan examined a number of pressing safety concerns and found that they have affected close to 92 million hospital admissions. Here are the six areas the consultancy said are ripe for improvement without requiring major investments in personnel or infrastructure.

Three upcoming hearings will focus on controlling opioid misuse, public health and prevention and insurance coverage.

Clinicians who complete the study will earn a full activity credit toward their quality reporting, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Non-adherent patients are three times more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days.

Demonstrations will show how the marriage of clinical and claims data in risk-adjusted algorithms can improve quality and reduce cost.