The Challenges Of Coordinating Care
News outlet explore issues related to hospital quality of care, costs and a predicted shift from inpatient to outpatient treatment.
Kaiser Health News: Health Care's 'Dirty Little Secret': No One May Be Coordinating Care
Coordinated care is touted as the key to better and more cost-effective care, and is being encouraged with financial rewards and penalties under the 2010 federal health care overhaul, as well as by private insurers. But experts say the communication failures that landed [Betsy] Gabay in a rehab center, rather than in surgery, remain disturbingly common" (Rabin, 4/30).
Bloomberg: Hiring A Guide To The Medical Bill Maze
When Annrose Isaac's twins were born prematurely, she thought her insurer would cover their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. "The hospital was in our network, but it turned out the physician in the NICU who saw our daughters didn't participate with our insurer," says the Westwood (New Jersey)-based financial planner. "All of a sudden we were getting bills for over $30,000" (Braham, 4/29).
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Leaders Expect Big Shift Toward Outpatient Care
As the care delivery models of hospitals and health systems evolve, healthcare executives and materials and practice area managers predict a major shift in admissions from inpatient to outpatient settings. According to Premier healthcare alliance's spring 2013 Economic Outlook, 69% of the survey participants predict that outpatient volume will rise in 2013, as compared to last year's volume. And as outpatient admissions are projected to increase, nearly 24% of respondents suggest that inpatient volume this year will drop (Landen, 4/29).