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…
CMS quality ratings linked to lower readmission, mortality rates
Editor's Note Hospitals that rank higher in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) Hospital Compare star ratings system have lower readmission and mortality rates, compared with those ranked lower in the system, this study finds. Hospitals with five stars had an 18.7% readmission rate, compared with 22.9% for one-star…
Some 60% of hospitals could face penalties under new joint replacement rule
Editor's Note A new analysis by Avalere Health (Washington, DC) finds that 60% of hospitals participating in Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement bundled-payment model could face penalties if they don’t reduce their costs. The average total joint costs around $13,000, but the entire episode-of-care costs twice that at $26,000.…
Readmission reduction program has mixed results
Editor's Note A readmission reduction program for high-risk Medicare patients lowered 30-day readmission rates, but the effect was small and did not achieve the goal set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), this study finds. Of 10,621 patients studied, readmission rates decreased from 21.5% to 19.5% in…
CMS reports drop in physicians, hospitals in ‘meaningful use’
Editor's Note The number of physicians that participated in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) “meaningful use” program dropped from 228,662 in 2014 to 226,514 in 2015, and hospital participation declined from 4,177 to 4,071, Bloomberg BNA reports. The drop in participation occurred despite repeated efforts by CMS…
Patient factors strongly predict 30-day readmissions
Editor's Note The patient’s clinical condition responsible for admission, age, comorbidities, and socioeconomic factors such as race, income, and payer status were strong predictors of readmission within 30 days in this study. The analysis included some 15 million patients at 611 hospitals from Premier healthcare alliance over a 2-year period.…
CMS given more time for final notice on ‘two-midnight’ payment cut
Editor's Note The US District Court for the District of Columbia has given the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) another month to issue a final notice justifying cutting inpatient payments by 0.2% in conjunction with its “two-midnight” rule, The March 18 AHA News Now reports. CMS has until…
Nurses’ perceptions of EHR
Editor's Note This study was designed to understand nurses’ perceptions of using an electronic health record (EHR) at the point of care. At 1 year after EHR adoption, the nurses said: it did not improve patient care the learning curve was steep they had lower confidence using the EHR than…
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