Quality and Safety
A quarter of the nation's hospitals in October will receive lower Medicare payments because their rates of patient complications are higher than their peers. Here is an explanation of the three measures Medicare is using to calculate the hospital-acquired conditions scores.
Healthcare finance professionals must better understand how value is delivered by frontline providers, and simultaneously offer providers business insight, said an expert on nursing management today at the HFMA ANI 2014 conference.
A quarter of the nation's hospitals, those with the worst rates of hospital-acquired conditions, will lose 1 percent of every Medicare payment for a year starting in October. The sanctions, estimated to total $330 million over a year, kick in at a time when most infections measured in hospitals are on the decline, but still too common.
There are more inpatient safety complications happening in hospitals that result in greater costs to patients and the healthcare system than are being monitored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The Affordable Care Act was designed to make medical care less expensive for the American public; it was not intended to put healthcare providers out of business. But a recent analysis of U.S. hospitals suggests the law could contribute to the demise of hundreds of poor performers.
A new study provides even more evidence that physician leadership is the key to success with accountable care organizations. Strong focus on patient needs is a key driver of success, but physician-led ACOs typically struggle with the care coordination piece.
Ugly stories about waiting lists and poor care in VA facilities are coming out in the press. But in truth, there is not enough information to say whether the VA system is worse or better than the private system as a whole, or even to compare the VA with individual private sector hospitals.
Patient satisfaction surveys suggest patients are unsatisfied and hospitals must do more to engage them. New technologies and techniques can help organizations find new ways to involve patients in their care and connect them with their caregivers.
As the Department of Veterans' Affairs scandal grows, scrutiny of wait times at civilian hospitals and clinics is bound to as well. Health systems might start reviewing their own access metrics.
Back in January, U.S. hospitals began to experience a serious shortage of intravenous saline solutions, caused mainly by a spike in demand during the beginning of the 2013 flu season. Fast forward to May, and hospitals are still struggling with the shortage.