Quality and Safety
North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory unveiled what he called a "comprehensive framework for reform" for Medicaid that would offer recipients integrated physical and behavioral healthcare while simplifying billing and administration for providers.
While the focus on many initiatives in transforming hospitals to an accountable care model has focused on IT tools and investments, the biggest challenge facing providers moving to an ACO model is managing the business process change, according to a new analysis by market research firm Frost & Sullivan.
For 15 years, Congress has bestowed special privileges to some small remote hospitals, usually in rural areas, to help them stay afloat. Despite these benefits, there's new evidence that the quality of many of these hospitals may be deteriorating.
In the past, neither hospitals nor practicing physicians were accustomed to being measured and judged. Aside from periodic inspections by the Joint Commission, hospitals did not publicly report their quality data, and payment was based on volume, not performance.
Two recent studies on nurse understaffing and nurse fatigue have revealed that these two prominent issues negatively impact the quality of care delivery, patient and employee satisfaction and operational costs in hospitals.
As voices calling for more patient engagement in healthcare grow louder, a new study reveals that patients with very low activation levels are significantly associated with higher healthcare costs in the here and now and in the future.
As hospitals continue to struggle with operational costs, some are now looking to clamp down on food waste to stem the tide. Providers are addressing the issue with a combination of electronic tracking, composting and forecasting.
Participation in a national hospital project has shown one small Maine hospital the importance of business intelligence tools as it adapts to a value-based business model.
Home care companies have an opportunity to expand their businesses and shape coordinated care efforts by offering their services to hospitals seeking to avoid patient readmissions, say home care experts.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has unveiled a prototype of an online database tool that has the potential to achieve higher quality and higher value cancer care and better outcomes for patients.