Quality and Safety
The punishments come in the third year of Medicare penalties for hospitals with patients most frequently suffering from potentially avoidable complications, including various types of infections, blood clots, bed sores and falls.
Industry experts say there is no crisis; top Republicans see a medical malpractice threatening U.S. health care.
Most agree that no matter what else may change, quality payment programs under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, or MACRA, will continue.
Federal agency tells providers it has received reports of hospital fires requiring hospital evacuations, according to letter to administrators.
Lowest performing hospitals before passage of the Affordable Care Act showed biggest improvement after being penalized, researchers say.
Some physicians are concerned moving the surgeries out of hospitals will land vulnerable patients in the emergency room with pain, complications.
In the past 20 years, the rate of hospitalization among seniors that is related to opioid overuse has quintupled.
Eliminating the waiting room sends the message that the hospital is waiting for the patients, not the other way around, said Feinberg.
Hospitals say they fear violating government decree that hospitals can't "specify or otherwise limit" patient's choice, but are not prohibited from advising on quality of facilities.
From sample of 1,202 adults, eight percent of respondents said they or someone in their household had imported a drug at some point.