CMS finalizes outpatient PPS, ASC payment system, quality reporting changes for 2018
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 1 announced it will update the hospital outpatient prospective payment system rates by 1.35%. The final rule also removes total knee arthroplasty from the inpatient only list along with five other procedures and adds one procedure to the…
Joint Commission redesigning Accreditation and Certification reports
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced November 1 that it is redesigning its Accreditation and Certification reports to be more user-friendly. The redesigned reports will highlight the most relevant information about surveys and reviews, outcomes, and required follow-ups. Additional changes include: removing unnecessary white space and repetitive text prioritizing and grouping…
One in five physicians intend to reduce work hours or leave the profession
Editor's Note The burden and bureaucracy of today’s practice of medicine are major factors influencing physicians’ intentions to reduce work hours or leave the profession, finds this study from the American Medical Association, Mayo Clinic, and Stanford University. Of nearly 36,000 physicians across all specialties surveyed, 6,880 (19.2%) responded. Nearly 1…
AAAHC develops new Orthopaedic Certification for ASCs
Editor's Note The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAHC) announced on November 2 that it has developed a new Orthopaedic Certification program for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). After an ASC achieves overall accreditation, it can acquire the Orthopaedic Certification to demonstrate excellence in the specialty of orthopaedics by meeting…
Surveillance is safe for noncancerous, high-risk breast lesions
Editor's Note High-risk, noncancerous flat epithelial atypia (FEA) breast lesions can be treated with close observation rather than surgical removal in most cases, this study finds. The analysis of 208 patients diagnosed with FEA over a 9-year period found that after mammography, biopsy, and surgical excision, five lesions (2.4%) were…
Value of voluntary bundled-payment program unclear
Editor's Note For the third year in a row, researchers with the Lewin Group couldn’t determine whether Medicare’s voluntary Bundled Payment for Care Improvement initiative cuts costs and improves care, the October 31 Modern Healthcare reports. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) funded analysis found that although providers…
CMS issues guidance on MIPS information blocking component
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued new guidance designed to offer clarity on the Merit-based Incentive Payment System’s (MIPS) data blocking component, the October 30 Healthcare Informatics reports. The guidance outlines how MIPS-eligible clinicians can show they are fulfilling the information blocking requirement, which…
Study: No advantages to robotic-assisted nephrectomy
Editor's Note Robotic-assisted nephrectomy is more expensive and takes longer than conventional laparoscopic nephrectomy and confers no additional benefits, this study finds. The proportion of robotic-assisted nephrectomies increased from 1.5% in 2003 to 27% in 2015. Of 23,753 patients analyzed, no significant differences were found in major postoperative complications between…
Improving readability of discharge instructions linked to fewer follow-up phone calls
Editor's Note Making discharge instructions easier to read resulted in fewer phone calls from traumatic injury patients after discharge, finds this study presented October 25 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017 in San Diego. A total of 1,006 patients were included in the study, 493 in…
FDA: Increased rate of major adverse events with Absorb GT1 Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 31 issued a Safety Alert saying that interim study results continue to show an increased rate of major adverse cardiac events and Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) thrombosis in patients receiving the Absorb GT1 BVS by Abbott Vascular (Abbott Park, Illinois),…