Quality and Safety
According to the latest RACTrac survey by the American Hospital Association (AHA), Medicare recovery auditors (RAC)-related denials in the second quarter of 2012 soared upwards by 24 percent from the first quarter of 2012.
HealthPartners and Park Nicollet Health Care announced that their boards of directors have signed an agreement to combine the two non-profits to create a comprehensive integrated health system and associated health plan to serve the Twin Cities region and parts of western Wisconsin.
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and its parent company Johnson & Johnson agreed Thursday to a multi-state settlement to resolve charges of improper marketing and advertising of the anti-psychotic drugs Risperdal and Invega. The company will pay $181 million to 36 states and the District of Columbia.
An American Hospital Association (AHA)-sponsored webinar on Wednesday highlighted findings from a study on the diversity in hospitals and featured successful practices tips from two hospitals recently honored for promoting overall diversity and creating strategies for disparities reduction at their facilities.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and non-profit health system Banner Health have announced an equal partnership designed to provide a coordinated Medicare Advantage offering to be known as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Advantage.
In the Federal Register in 2000, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Compliance Program for Individual and Small Group Physician Practices identified monitoring and auditing as one of the seven components that provide a solid basis for an effective compliance plan. And with an increase in regulatory and payer audit activity seeking to identify improper payments, it's wise for proactive physician practices to implement processes that will ensure proper compliance.
A newly released report documents the successes of a private hospitals program to safely discharge homeless patients and save money for the participating hospitals.
Last week, the Jackson Health System, a six-hospital network based in Miami, announced it will be considering proposals for outsourcing physicians, physician assistants and advance nurse practitioners in its emergency departments.
A new study from New York-based insurer Emblem Health provides evidence suggesting that inpatient point-of-care case management can both reduce patient hospital readmissions and provide a solid return on investment.
Large hospitals are big consumers of energy. Just how much is the subject of new results from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS).