By Jordan Rau – The federal government’s effort to penalize hospitals for excessive patient readmissions is ending its first decade with Medicare cutting payments to nearly half the nation’s hospitals. In its 10th annual round of penalties, Medicare is reducing its payments to 2,499 hospitals, or 47% of all facilities.
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By David Meyers MD & Jeff Brady MD, MPH – It takes a team effort to reduce potentially preventable hospital readmissions. Patients leaving the hospital need tailored education about how to take their medications, whether to get home care services, and when to follow up with their primary care physician.
By Jordan Rau – Medicare cut payments to 2,583 hospitals recently, continuing the Affordable Care Act’s eight-year campaign to financially pressure hospitals into reducing the number of patients who return for a second stay within a month.
By Mary Kay Thalken RN MBA – CMS released their long-awaited final rule for hospitals that fall under certain payment models in Fiscal Year 2020, and it’s a doozy.
CMS finalized new Innovation Center models that continue the Administration’s progress to shift Medicare payments from rewarding quantity to rewarding quality by creating strong incentives for hospitals to deliver better care to patients at a lower cost.
By Patrick Conway MD & Tim Gronniger – The unfortunate experience of having to return to the hospital after recently being treated—or watching the same thing happen to a friend or family member—is all too common.
By Michelle Andrews – One of the key indicators of the quality of a hospital’s care is how frequently its patients are readmitted within a month after being discharged.
By Jordan Rau – The federal government’s readmission penalties on hospitals will reach a new high as Medicare withholds more than half a billion dollars in payments over the next year.
By Patrick Conway MD – We know that it is possible to improve national patient safety performance resulting in millions of people avoiding infections and adverse health events. A report released by the AHRQ showed an unprecedented 39% reduction in preventable patient harm in U.S. hospitals compared to the 2010 baseline.