Bloggers See Own Reflections In Oregon Medicaid Study
This week’s study of Oregon Medicaid recipients has quickly become a Rorschach test for how partisans and health policy wonks view the health care law. To recap, that study compared the health care of the winners and losers of a lottery held by Oregon in 2008 to decide who could enroll in the limited spots in the […]
Patient Satisfaction May Not Be A Good Indicator Of Surgical Quality, Study Finds
You may have found your doctor to be a great communicator, your hospital room clean and quiet and your pain well controlled. Yet a study finds these opinions are not barometers of whether your hospital’s surgical care is any good. The study, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University medical and public health schools, […]
Doctor-Owned Hospitals Prosper Under Health Law
Even though the 2010 health law stymies their growth, these hospitals are gaining under Medicare’s quality payments programs.
Medicare Effort To Cut Readmissions Isn’t Counting Patients Who Come Back To ER
A study published Tuesday says Medicare may be missing factors that lead to post-hospital health problems because it isn’t counting many discharged patients who come back to the emergency room but aren’t admitted. The study in Annals of Emergency Medicine looked at 11,976 patients discharged from Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net hospital in New […]
Death Rates Rise At Geographically Isolated Hospitals, Study Finds
These critical access hospitals, which are often in rural areas, get paid more generously by Medicare and are exempt from some federal reporting standards. But those exemptions may be hiding quality issues at the facilities.
IOM Panel Raises Concerns About Lowering Medicare Pay For High Spending Areas
The report suggests that cutting payments in areas that pay more per beneficiary, such as Manhattan and Florida, could hit hospitals and doctors who are not providing expensive care.
This list includes various sources for hospital ratings.
Hospital Ratings Are In The Eye Of The Beholder
With an expanding number of groups offering a stamp of approval, consumers find a confusing array of quality awards to consider when choosing a hospital.
Medicare Revises Readmissions Penalties
More than 1,200 hospitals are receiving good news
Panel Calls For ‘Drastic Changes’ In Medicare Doctor Pay
A panel convened by a major medical group is recommending that Medicare heal its physician payment shortfalls with “drastic changes” in how it reimburses doctors and other providers, rather than seeking more taxpayer money. Medicare needs $138 billion over the next decade to avoid steep cuts in physician pay. Avoiding those cuts has become an […]
New Reasons To ‘Like’ Online Hospital Reviews
Millions of dollars and some of the best minds in health care have been devoted to measuring how good a hospital is. But two studies suggest users of two social media giants, Facebook and Yelp, may do a solid job of reflecting quality. The findings are particularly important as more people are turning to the […]
Americans Uncomfortable Around Mentally Ill Despite Acknowledging Discrimination
The public has a contradictory view of mental illness, according to a new poll. While most Americans believe people with such ailments are the victims of prejudice and discrimination, a substantial portion of the public say they have qualms about working in the same place or having their children attend a school where someone with a […]
Dartmouth Study Questions Widely Used Risk-Adjustment Methods
In evaluating a hospital and health plan in the increasingly expensive U.S. health care system, federal officials and researchers often first factor in an assessment of how sick their patients are. A new study, however, challenges the validity of several widely used “risk-adjustment” efforts and suggests that Medicare is overpaying some plans and facilities while […]
Higher Hospital Readmissions Aren’t Linked To Fewer Deaths, Study Finds
The research bolsters Medicare’s efforts to prompt hospitals to reduce the number of patients who return quickly even though some experts assert that might be a sign of good care.
Research Finds Link Between Poor Health And Seniors Switching Out Of Private Medicare Plans
Some advocates are concerned that the Medicare Advantage plans have incentives to skim off the lowest-maintenance customers and leave the expensive patients to the traditional program.
Fed Economist Steps Into Dispute On Geographic Differences In Health Spending
A new analysis concludes that things like the prevalence of smoking, obesity and diabetes best explain why Medicare spending in some regions of the country is higher, instead of how medicine is practiced, as other researchers believe.
A Regional Analysis Of Which Hospitals Got Rewards, Penalties Based On Quality
In Medicare’s new program that ties about $1 billion in payments to quality of care, hospitals in Fort Wayne, Ind., are faring the best on average while hospitals in Washington, D.C., are doing the worst, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the country’s 212 major health care markets. All seven hospitals in the nation’s […]
Behind The Fiscal Cliff Deal, A Prolonged Hospital Finance Fight
Hospitals complain they are bearing the brunt of sustaining payment levels for doctors but the changes in Medicare were a long time coming.
Medicare Discloses Hospitals’ Bonuses, Penalties Based On Quality
Under a program set up by the health law, payments to 1,557 hospitals will be increased, while 1,427 will drop.
How Hospitals’ Quality Bonuses And Penalties Were Determined And How To Use The Data
Payments to hospitals are adjusted to reflect how they follow standards of care and patients’ ratings of their experiences.
