Joint Commission continues to revise LS, EC chapters
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on December 6 announced that revisions are continuing to be made to the Life Safety (LS) and Environment of Care (EC) chapters of its accreditation manuals. The revisions are a result of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ adoption of the 2012 editions of…
CMS finalizes changes to bundled-payment models
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 30 announced a final rule that cancels the mandatory hip fracture and cardiac bundled-payment models, which were to begin on January 1, 2018, and implements changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model. In the final…
Joint Commission announces new tool to help with accreditation, CMS compliance
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 29 announced a new software tool, “Tracers with AMPTM plus CMS,” to help hospitals and critical access hospitals manage their Joint Commission accreditation and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) compliance efforts. The tool is a web-based platform that stores a hospital’s…
CMS: Two inpatients needed for hospital survey, resurvey
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a new requirement, effective immediately, that a hospital must have at least two active inpatients at the time of survey, or the survey/resurvey will not be allowed to continue, the Joint Commission reported November 15. The new requirement…
Peer review inspires high performance from providers
Peer review is a hot topic in the quality arena as many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) strive to create meaningful and sustainable evaluation of their providers. “As a surveyor, I can tell you peer review trips everybody up,” says Ann Geier, MS, RN, CNOR, CASC, chief nursing officer of Surgical…
Joint Commission: More accredited hospitals submitting eCQM data
Editor's Note Despite the expansion of requirements for electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) reporting to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an increased number of Joint Commission accredited hospitals are adopting and reporting eCQMs to drive quality improvement, the Joint Commission reports. In 2016, 470 accredited hospitals submitted eCQM…
Medicare readmission reduction program linked to increased mortality rates
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program has had the unintended consequence of increased short- and long-term mortality in heart failure patients, this study finds. Five years ago, as part of the Affordable Care Act, federal policy makers introduced the Hospital Readmission Reduction…
Periop nurses key in reducing readmissions after CABG surgery
Editor's Note Perioperative nurses engaging in patient and community education to explain coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, reinforcing recommended discharge guidelines, and serving as expert resources are key to positive outcomes and reducing readmissions, finds this review article. In 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reduced payments…
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…
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…
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