Quality and Safety

A bi-partisan bill introduced in the Senate and House seeks to remedy the complex and confusing rules for inpatient observation of Medicare beneficiaries.

The health of workers in the United States is declining, and employers spend about $670 in healthcare costs per worker every year, according to Thomson Reuters' newly released U.S. Workforce Wellness Index.

Union officials say more than 70 percent of the registered nurses of Boston's Tufts Medical Center voted Thursday night to authorize a 24-hour strike over patient care conditions.

After two decades of critical nurse and physician shortages, an economic climate of high unemployment would seem to be the antidote for the healthcare sector.

Employers with self-funded health plans have a common enemy: The emergency room.

Much attention is paid to the transformative potential for clinical IT to improve care and increase patient safety. But non-clinical technology is just as important.

The community pharmacy may be an enduring and endearing image of rural America, offering everything from prescription medications to milk to sunglasses, but its ability to handle the complex needs of a residential home or senior housing complex leaves something to be desired.

Six health plans -Aetna, CDPHP, the Hudson Health Plan, MVP Health Care, UnitedHealthcare and Empire BlueCross Blue Shield - have provided $1.5 million in incentive payments to 236 separate primary care physicians in 11 practices in New York that have achieved patient-centered medical home recognition by the NCQA.

A two-year-old patient-centered medical home pilot spearheaded by physician-directed health plan CDPHP has resulted in major declines in the growth of the cost of care and improved outcomes at the three participating primary care practices.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will have little net effect on overall employment but should provide a modest boost in healthcare sector employment, according to the Urban Institute.