Latest KFF Health News Stories
721 Hospitals Penalized For Patient Safety
Medicare is penalizing 721 hospitals with high rates of potentially avoidable mistakes that can harm patients, known as “hospital-acquired conditions.” Penalized hospitals will have their Medicare payments reduced by 1 percent over the fiscal year that runs from October 2014 through September 2015. To determine penalties, Medicare evaluated three types of HACs. One is central-line associated bloodstream infections, or CLABSIs. The second is catheter-associated urinary tract infections, or CAUTIs. The final one, Serious Complications, is based on eight types of injuries, including blood clots, bed sores and falls. Here are the hospitals that are being penalized:
Medicare Cuts Payments To 721 Hospitals With Highest Rates Of Infections, Injuries
The 1 percent penalty, mandated by the health law, will hit one of every seven hospitals in the country and fall particularly hard on academic medical centers.
Readmissions Penalties By State: Year 3
Medicare evaluated the readmission rates of the nation’s hospitals in determining the third year of penalties in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. This table lists the average impact on hospitals in each state.
A Guide To Medicare’s Readmissions Penalties And Data
The methodology behind KHN’s analysis of the third year of the Medicare penalty program.
Hospitals Boost Patient Safety, But More Work Is Needed
Readmissions and patient injuries decrease as new government programs take effect.
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 […]
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.
Table: Hospitals Judged Best And Worst For Hip And Knee Readmissions And Complications
Medicare has evaluated how often patients undergoing hip and knee surgery were readmitted or suffered a serious complication. These hospitals did much better or worse than average.
Nearly 1,500 Hospitals Penalized Under Medicare Program Rating Quality
The hospitals were rated on two-dozen measures, including surveys of patient satisfaction and death rates.
Armed With Bigger Fines, Medicare To Punish 2,225 Hospitals For Excess Readmissions
Penalties will total $227 million, but many hospitals will see their fines go down in October in the second year of the program.
Readmissions Penalties By State: Year Two
This chart lists state averages of readmission rates and the number of hospitals in each state that will be penalized.
Sources and Methodology: A Guide To Medicare’s Readmissions Data And KHN’s Analysis
Kaiser Health News’ data on hospital readmissions penalties comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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, […]
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 […]
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.
This list includes various sources for hospital ratings.
Medicare Revises Readmissions Penalties
More than 1,200 hospitals are receiving good news
Effort To Curb Medicare Spending Begins With Crackdown On Hospital Readmissions
The 2010 federal health law calls for penalties for hospitals with high rates of readmissions as the government seeks to trim spending in the the health program for the elderly and disabled.
Medicare Revises Hospitals’ Readmissions Penalties
Federal officials made small errors in calculating how much hospitals will be docked for having too many patients return within 30 days. Many hospitals will lose a bit more money under revised calculations.
Medicare’s Pay For Performance Effort Begins, Targeting Quality and Readmissions
Monday is the start of the federal fiscal year, and with it begins Medicare’s biggest effort yet at paying for performance. Starting Oct. 1, Medicare is withholding 1 percent of its regular hospital reimbursements in the new Value-Based Purchasing Program, which was created by the 2010 health care law. Over the course of the year, […]
