Hospitals Face Penalties If They Don’t Please Patients
In the coming months, Medicare will start taking patient satisfaction into account when reimbursing hospitals.
Kaiser Health News: When TLC Doesn't Satisfy Patients, Elite Hospitals May Pay A Price
Winning praise from patients has become a pressing — and often elusive — obsession for ... hospitals nationwide. In the coming months, Medicare will start taking patient satisfaction into account when reimbursing hospitals. Disgruntled patients will mean reduced revenue, a frightening prospect for hospitals already facing empty beds because of the recession and pressure from insurers to hold down costs (Rau, 11/8).
The Wall Street Journal: A Financial Incentive For Better Bedside Manner
How patients feel they were treated has always colored their opinions of a hospital. Now, those feelings are being factored into how hospitals get paid. Starting next fall, the federal Medicare program will withhold 1% of a vital payment—totaling an estimated $850 million, with the percentage doubling to 2% in 2017—as part of a program in last year's U.S. health-care overhaul designed to force hospitals to improve the quality of care and trim costs (Landro, 11/7).