OR Business
California county goes surgery shopping
Editor's Note California's Santa Barbara County and other government employers are joining private employers in shopping for lower-cost bundled surgical care, even if it means going out of town, the September 1 Kaiser Health News reports. The voluntary program that includes incentives such as waived copays and deductibles as well…
Costs vary widely for common surgical procedures
Editor's Note There is wide cost variation for five common surgical procedures in the US, this study finds. Cost observed-to-expected ratios ranged widely: 14.9-fold for colectomy 5.5-fold for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) 12.5-fold for lung resection 10.6-fold for total knee arthroplasty 28.0-fold for cesarean section. High-cost hospitals were more…
Payment variation in CABG episodes of care can affect bundled payments
Editor's Note Wide variation was found in 90-day coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) episode payments for Medicare and private payer patients in this study. The differences were driven by increased use of evaluation and management services, higher utilization of inpatient rehabilitation, and patients with multiple readmissions. In the analysis of…
Voluntary bundled-payment models shifting to outpatient procedures
Editor's Note Though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is rolling back mandatory bundled-payment programs, it is expected to release more voluntary, outpatient-focused programs, which shifts power from hospitals to physicians, the August 21 Healthcare Finance News reports. Physician-focused does not require a hospitalization, which creates a complete…
ECRI Institute releases free white paper on value analysis
Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on August 23 announced a new free white paper, “Value Analysis: Best Practices for Navigating the Evidence Maze,” to help value analysis committees bring an objective, systematic approach to the decision-making process for health technologies and interventions. The white paper includes three case studies that…
Ransomware attacks: How to protect your medical device systems
Ransomware is a form of computer malware used to make data, software, and information technology (IT) assets unavailable to users. It uses encryption of data to hold systems hostage with an associated ransom demand, often in Bitcoin (a virtual currency that is difficult to trace). This encryption is used to…
More than 800 ICD-10 code changes coming
Editor's Note ChartLogic (Salt Lake City) is reporting that as of August 9, 2017, a total of 419 ICD-10 codes were added, 273 codes were revised, and 123 codes were being deleted, according to the August 15 Becker’s Hospital CFO Report. The changes are slated for implementation on October 1,…
CMS proposes canceling two bundled payment models, scaling back a third
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on August 15 announced a proposed rule that would cancel two bundled-payment models and reduce the number of providers required to participate in a third. The proposed rule would cancel the Episode Payment Models and the Cardiac Rehabilitation incentive payment…
Survey: Half of practices spend $40K per physician to comply with federal regs
Editor's Note A new Medical Group Management Association survey of 750 physician group practices finds that nearly half spend more than $40,000 per physician each year to comply with federal regulations, the August 10 FierceHealthcare reports. Respondents say the most burdensome regulation is Medicare’s new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)…
Report predicts big growth for hybrid OR market
Editor's Note A research report by Marketsandmarkets predicts the global hybrid OR market will reach nearly $1.2 billion by 2022, at a 12.5% annualized growth rate, according to the August 14 HealthCareBusiness daily news. The specialty with the highest growth rate will be thoracic surgery. The biggest driver of hybrid…
Free Daily News
- Study: ERAS protocol reduces opioid use after cardiac surgery
- Study: Prehabilitation reduces surgical complications, speeds recovery
- Commentary: Studies show how surgeon decisions follow the money
- Proposed HIPAA updates would improve cybersecurity, increase costs for healthcare providers
- Study: EMR data can enhance hand hygiene compliance, infection prevention
- Study: Machine learning model improves perioperative pain assessment
- Call for improved suicide risk screening in ASCs aims to strengthen safety protocols
- Study: Perioperative pregabalin reduces risk of kidney decline compared to gabapentin
- Medical school diversity declines after Supreme Court ruling
- Surgeons risk losing ground as transcatheter tricuspid valve interventions rise