Medicare releases ASC quality data
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on May 4 released comprehensive ambulatory surgery center (ASC) quality data reports compiled through its Ambulatory Surgery Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) program. Among the data reported are: Quality data code-based measures, such as wrong site, side, patient, procedure, implant Safe…
VBP program rewards 231 low-quality hospitals
Editor's Note Through its Value Based Purchasing (VBP) program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paid bonuses to 231 hospitals with lower quality because their patients were less expensive, this study finds. CMS began measuring both spending and quality in FY 2015 to encourage hospitals to provide more…
AHA asks CMS to suspend VBP pain questions
Editor's Note The American Hospital Association (AHA) on April 29 asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to suspend their pain-related questions in the Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program until concerns are addressed that the questions may contribute to the opioid epidemic, AHA News Now reports. The AHA says…
Growing number of sickest patients removed from liver transplant wait list
Editor's Note Liver transplant candidates who are the sickest and should be first in line for a donor liver are increasingly being removed from the wait list because they are considered too sick to transplant, finds this study. Between 2007 and 2012, more than 4,300 patients were taken off the…
CMS proposes two rules to simplify physician documentation requirements
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 27 proposed two rules, scheduled to take effect in January 2017, that will ease physician documentation requirements. One rule makes changes to the “Meaningful Use” program. CMS is proposing to replace meaningful use with a new program that…
Teaching hospitals penalized for aggressive screening
Editor's Note Nearly half of US academic medical centers are being penalized by Medicare because their aggressive screening of patients leads to identification of more infections and other complications that trigger penalties, the April 20 Kaiser Health News reports. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) maintains that the…
CMS delays release of new hospital quality ratings
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 20 announced that it will delay until July the release of hospital quality “star ratings” on its Hospital Compare website, the April 20 Modern Healthcare reports. The ratings were scheduled to be released April 21. The delay stems…
CMS issues hospital inpatient PPS proposed rule for FY 2017
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on April 18 issued its hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) proposed rule for FY 2017. The proposed rule includes: an increase in rates by 0.85% from FY 2016, after accounting for inflation and other adjustments required by law adjustments to…
Value-based payment raises quality stakes in patient care
Although many healthcare providers are still struggling to implement a value-based payment (VBP) model, everyone knows that the train has left the station and adjustments must be made. Shifting to a VBP system, expanding surgical patient care to “population health,” and developing a new generation of perioperative nurses are among…
Inpatient PPS proposed rule drops two-midnight payment cuts
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 18 issued its hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) proposed rule for FY 2017 that includes two adjustments to reverse the effects of the 0.2% cut it instituted when implementing the two-midnight rule, AHA News Now reports. Included…
Free Daily News
- GLP-1 labels carry pulmonary aspiration warning
- Research reveals racial disparity in postoperative pain management
- Study: Single-syringe pump reduces OR propofol waste
- Study: Delaying elective surgery after myocardial infarction reduces complications in older patients
- Global study dispels benefits of blood pressure management during non-cardiac surgery
- Upcoming webinar covers 6 key metrics to improve OR capacity
- Third-party vendors drive healthcare cybersecurity risks
- New guidance: Preoperative GLP-1s safe for surgical patients
- Study: Beta-blockers could increase postoperative stroke risk
- Music therapy reduces opioid use, anxiety in surgical patients