Quality and Safety

Physicians may be more willing to accept policy changes that improve access to care and reduce costs if they can obtain some relief from malpractice liability, suggested the researchers of an article published in the January issue of Health Affairs.

Across the U.S., hospital costs are rising while revenue and patient volume are falling. Rural not-for-profit hospitals, in particular, face a challenging financial future, one in which some facilities might close or at least "go hungry."

As healthcare organizations increase their focus on data security and HIPAA compliance, Kroll's Cyber Security Forecast offers a list of four concerns every provider should take very seriously.

Medicare on Dec. 20 disclosed bonuses and penalties for nearly 3,000 hospitals as it ties almost $1 billion in payments to the quality of care provided to patients.

Insurer Florida Blue and the Moffitt Cancer Center on Thursday announced the creation of an accountable care program that will focus on the treatment of cancer.

As a strategy to improve its patient satisfaction scores and re-establish the human-to-human connection between patients and caregivers, Steve Pu, DO, medical director at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett, Mo., helped establish an initiative called Sacred Moments in January 2012.

Researchers from global consulting company PwC say providers and insurers have ample opportunities, but also significant challenges in serving the roughly 30 million people who will become newly insured through Medicaid expansion and via the health insurance exchanges in the coming years.

With the increasing costs of a growing Medicare population and of an American population that is living longer but with more chronic disease, the U.S. healthcare system needs to utilize better care coordination and payment reform to keep costs down, according to a report from the American Hospital Association (AHA).

As lawmakers debate the ingredients of a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, a long-term care membership organization offers a recipe for post-acute system reform that can be adapted for all sectors of healthcare.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) announced it was granting $40.7 million over three years to fund patient-centered comparative effectiveness research in the first four areas of its National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda.