Deadline looms for CMS patient safety reporting requirements
Editor's Note Starting October 1, US hospitals participating in Medicare's Inpatient Quality Reporting Program will need to report adherence to 25 patient safety best practices, as mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). According to a September 4 report from the Association of Health Care Journalists, the…
CMS expands social determinants of health screening to outpatient settings
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is expanding its social determinants of health (SDoH) initiatives to include outpatient settings, starting with voluntary reporting in 2025 and moving to mandatory reporting in 2026, MedLearn Publishing August 26 reports. This expansion aims to address gaps in care by…
Study highlights CMS hospital star rating limitations
Editor's Note CMS hospital star ratings may not be a reliable tool for assessing surgical quality, according to a study published June 18 in JAMA Surgery. Researchers acknowledge that higher ratings are generally associated with improved postoperative outcomes, including fewer complications and lower 30-day mortality rates. However, as reported by…
Medical error initiative from Joint Commission affiliate NQF targets preventable harm, “never events”
Editor's Note Designed to address high rates of preventable medical errors, a new initiative from The National Quality Form (NQF), an affiliate of The Joint Commission, will modernize criteria for what constitutes a Serious Reportable Event (SRE) and align standards for reporting such events across different accountability systems. Dubbed “Focus…
Study: Propofol sedation increases colonoscopy costs without improving outcomes
Editor's Note Although the use of propofol for colonoscopy has been rising due to beliefs that deep sedation leads to greater patient comfort, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of nearly 1,500 patients from nine randomized controlled trials shows this view is not supported by available evidence. Published March 8…
How data puts the ‘value’ in value-based care
What if a surgeon decided to perform a procedure on a patient that was not totally necessary? It happens more often that one might realize. As recently as August 2023, Forbes published an article that cited a Harvard Business Review report stating that over 50% of lumbar spine surgeries are…
US News to debut best ASCs list in 2024
Editor's Note US News & World Report, recognized globally as an authority in healthcare rankings and consumer advice, announced in November 2023 the addition of Best Ambulatory Surgery Centers to its annual series of ratings that evaluate healthcare sites. This new category comes in response to the growing prevalence of…
Study: Hospital privatization reduces care quality
Editor's Note Quality of care drops when hospitals move from public to private ownership, according to review published in the March issue of the Lancet Public Health. The meta-analysis uses evidence from 13 longitudinal studies across the United States, Canada, Croatia, England, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Sweden. Researchers evaluated…
US well-represented in “World’s Best Hospital” rankings
Editor's Note American hospitals fared well in Newsweek’s 2024 "World's Best Hospital" list, Becker’s Hospital Review reported February 28, noting that 43 candidates from the United States made the list of 250. Four US hospitals ranked in the top 10, a group singled out specifically for innovative use of artificial…
Session: How value-based care will impact surgical services
Editor's Note Understanding the impact of value-based care on the surgical suite (VBC) will be essential for hospitals to understand as payers begin to seek partners in new payment models. In a conference session yesterday, Lauren Cricchi, associate principal, financial services at Avalere Healthcare and Katie Sullivan, senior vice president,…
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