CMS Aims To Improve Maternal Health With ‘Birthing-Friendly’ Hospital Rating

Modern Healthcare: CMS 'Birthing-Friendly' Hospital Designation Will Debut In 2023
Hospitals can begin receiving a "birthing-friendly" designation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in fall 2023, the agency announced Wednesday. The designation will initially be based on the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program's maternal morbidity structural measure. Hospitals will need to meet expanded criteria in the future, CMS said in a news release. The reporting period for the morbidity measure began in October and hospitals will submit data to CMS for the first time in May. The metric requires hospitals to attest whether they participate in a state or national perinatal quality improvement collaborative program and whether they have implemented safety practices or bundles to address birth complications such as hemorrhages and sepsis. (Goldman, 4/13)

In Medicare and Medicaid news —

Modern Healthcare: Nursing Home Industry Decries Poor Timing Of Proposed Medicare Cuts
Nursing homes are steeling for a $320 million Medicare pay cut they say will make it harder to deliver care during an already challenging time. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a proposed rule Tuesday that would reduce Medicare Part A reimbursements for fiscal 2023 to make up for what the agency characterized as unintentionally high pay rates in fiscal 2020. "It's going to put a lot of strain on operations, especially for the smaller, individual skilled nursing facilities," said Karen Maseli, assistant vice president of operations for ProMedica Senior Care. (Christ, 4/13)

Axios: Whistleblower Explains How Medicare Advantage Plan Bilked Millions
Major Medicare plans are often inflating how sick their members are — and in at least one example, went so far as to add diagnoses doctors hadn't made — to bilk millions of dollars from the health care system, a whistleblower told Bloomberg. In one case, a woman was even coded for prostate cancer, according to the report. Medicare Advantage is fast growing in popularity — and in the amount of money it's costing the health care system as seniors flock to the plans. (Reed, 4/13)

KHN: How A Former Catholic Priest Is Navigating A California Medicaid Plan Through Big Changes 
For Michael Hunn, the path from priesthood to health care was seamless. Hunn, a native of St. Louis, counseled hospitalized patients as a Catholic priest in the 1980s before leaving the clergy and shifting to health care administration. Over the next three decades, he was CEO of nine different hospitals — in California, Texas, and Missouri — among other senior executive positions. Across his unusual trajectory, there’s been a common thread: a desire to help people. (Wolfson, 4/14)

In other health industry news —

Detroit Free Press: St. Joseph Mercy Health And Mercy Health Are Changing Their Names
Eight Michigan hospitals and 320 other health care sites in the state will incorporate the Trinity Health name and logo as part of the rebranding, which will take place through 2023. "We are transforming our identity to assert our presence as one of Michigan’s largest health care systems, with a singular commitment to keeping our patients at the center of everything we do," said Rob Casalou, president and CEO of Trinity Health Michigan and Southeast Regions. "We are peeling back the layers to reveal a unified organization with a shared legacy and mission of service to the communities we're honored to serve." (Jordan Shamus, 4/13)

Stat: Justice Department Probes Bausch Health Over Marketing For Dermatology Drugs 
Bausch Health is being investigated by U.S. authorities in connection with marketing of four medicines used to treat different skin conditions, according to an internal document reviewed by STAT. The Department of Justice sent a civil investigative demand last year to the company seeking information about various activities in which the medicines may have been promoted for uses not approved by regulators. The inquiry is focused on three drugs used to treat plaque psoriasis — Bryhali, Siliq, and Duobrii – and a fungal treatment called Jublia, the document stated. (Silverman, 4/13)

Bloomberg: Largest U.S. Hospital Systems Shortchange Charity Care For Poor, Report Says
Some of the largest not-for-profit U.S. hospital systems get a bigger benefit from their tax breaks than they pay out in charity care for the poor, implying that society isn’t benefiting much from their tax-free status, according to a new report. The Lown Institute, a think tank that focuses on equity in U.S. health care, said that the hospitals it looked at generated a total deficit in 2019 of $18.4 billion. It cited storied names like Mass General Brigham and the Cleveland Clinic network, although the hospitals themselves said the report understated the benefits they provide. According to Lown, of the 275 not-for-profit private systems it analyzed, 227 came up short. (Coleman-Lochner and Braun, 4/13)

The Boston Globe: Health Care Watchdog Pushes To Hold Down Spending Despite Pandemic
Despite two years of unprecedented disruption in the health care market, Massachusetts has ordered insurers and providers to keep health care spending low. On Wednesday, the state’s Health Policy Commission set a 3.6 percent benchmark for health care spending growth in 2023. That number is up slightly from the 3.1 percent benchmark the state has had in place since 2018. The low spending growth goal comes despite requests from state hospital lobbying groups that the state pause the benchmark for a year to account for massive disruptions in the market. (Bartlett, 4/13)