Methodology: How Hospital-Acquired Conditions Are Calculated
Before assessing penalties, Medicare assesses rates of infection among patients with catheters in major veins and in the bladder and eight other patient injuries, such as blood clots, bed sores and accidental falls.
Senators Offer Bill To Ease Readmission Penalties On Some Hospitals
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation on Thursday to make Medicare take the financial status of hospital patients into account when deciding whether to punish a hospital for too many readmissions. The bill attempts to address one of the main complaints about the readmissions program: that hospitals serving large numbers of low-income patients are […]
Some Costly Hospital Complications Not Tracked by Medicare, Analysis Finds
An analysis released Thursday identified dozens of potentially avoidable hospital complications that are not being tracked by the government even though some occur frequently and are expensive to treat. Premier, Inc., a consulting company that works with hospitals on improving quality, analyzed 5.5 million patient records to identify 86 common complications that occurred in the […]
Harvard: Overused Medical Services Cost Medicare Billions
Medical overtreatment is the inverse of former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of pornography: while easy to define in concept, it can be hard to know it when you see it. A treatment that is appropriate for one patient can also be unnecessary or even counterproductive for another, depending on the patient’s condition. This […]
Hospitals Boost Patient Safety, But More Work Is Needed
Readmissions and patient injuries decrease as new government programs take effect.
Doctors Think Others Often Prescribe Unnecessary Care
Three out of four physicians believe that fellow doctors prescribe an unnecessary test or procedure at least once a week, a survey released Thursday finds. The most frequent reasons that physicians order extraneous—and costly—medical care are fears of being sued, impulses to be extra careful and desires to reassure their own assessments of the patient, […]
Doctors Overlook Lucrative Procedures When Naming Unwise Treatments
In the “Choosing Wisely” campaign, medical specialty societies have published lists of procedures that doctors and patients should consider skeptically. But some groups overlooked their own dubious, but profitable procedures.
Medicare Records Provide Tantalizing New Details Of Payments To Doctors
But physicians and database experts caution that the information can be easily misconstrued or misunderstood.
Half Of Uninsured Not Planning On Getting Coverage, Poll Finds
With less than a week left for customers to apply for insurance through the health care marketplaces, a poll released Wednesday finds that half of the people still without health coverage intend to remain uninsured. Five million people have signed up for insurance since the marketplaces created by the federal health law opened in October. The […]
Poll: For Right Price, Consumers Will Accept Limited Choice Of Doctors, Hospitals
People buying health insurance through the health law’s new online marketplaces are more willing than the public at large to accept a limited roster of doctors and hospitals in return for lower premiums, a poll released Wednesday finds. But that enthusiasm nosedives if they are told their regular doctor isn’t included in the plan. As a […]
Medicare Data Show Wide Differences In ACOs’ Patient Care
The first public evaluation of how 141 networks of doctors and hospitals performed looks at five quality measures for patients with diabetes and heart disease.
The 10 Least Expensive Health Insurance Markets In The U.S.
Areas that offer the least expensive exchange premiums are marked by robust competition, salaried doctors and health systems that organize care.
In Southwest Georgia, The Affordable Care Act Is Having Trouble Living Up To Its Name
In an area with moderate incomes and cost of living, insurance premiums on the new health law marketplace are nearly the highest in the country.
The 10 Most Expensive Insurance Markets In The U.S.
The ranking is based on the lowest price “silver” plan, which is the mid-level plan that the majority of consumers are selecting. The listed monthly premiums are for a 40-year-old person.
Health Law Is A Tough Sell To Uninsured
Uninsured Americans — the people that the Affordable Care Act was designed to most aid — are increasingly critical of the law as its key provisions kick in, a poll released Thursday finds. This month’s tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 47 percent of the uninsured said they hold unfavorable views of […]
Expensive Hospitals: Strong Reputations But Little Evidence Of Better Care, Study Finds
A study of autoworker claims found that hospitals with the highest prices tended to have the strongest reputations and tight holds on their local markets yet showed little evidence of providing better quality care. The actual prices insurers pay hospitals are closely guarded secrets in health care. That has made it hard for health researchers […]
HHS Releases Poverty Guidelines For 2014
The federal government has released slightly higher poverty level guidelines for 2014, but those won’t alter the income thresholds that are being used now to determine what kind of financial assistance is available to buy insurance under the health law. The guidelines will be relevant in the fall, when people look to buy coverage for […]
364 Hospitals Have High Rates Of Overall Readmissions, New Medicare Data Show
Medicare’s new comprehensive measure of hospital readmissions shows that at least 20 percent of the hospitals in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island have higher rates of patients returning than the national average. Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah and Washington led the states with the highest proportion […]
Website Repairs Have Not Bolstered Support For The Health Law, Poll Finds
Improvements in the government’s insurance Web portal have not translated into stronger public support for the health law, a new poll shows. Nearly half of the public views the law unfavorably this month, while only a third likes it. That’s about the same as in November, when public opinion plummeted after the technologically troubled start […]
Medicare Identifies 97 Best And 95 Worst Hospitals For Hip And Knee Replacements
The new analysis is part of the government’s effort to improve the quality of care.
