Quality reports to determine pay rise or fall
Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) that have yet to register and report compliance with quality measures can expect a decrease of 0.9% in 2016 from this year’s Medicare reimbursement rates. Those in compliance, however, may see an increase of approximately 1.1%, depending on specialties. As in the past, the Centers for…
CMS extends “Two-Midnight” rule partial enforcement delay to end of year
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on August 12 extended the partial enforcement delay of the “Two-Midnight” rule from September 30 to December 31, AHA News reports. The extension prohibits Recovery Audit Contractors from conducing post-payment patient status reviews for claims with admission dates October 1 to…
Variation in surgical readmissions mostly patient related
Editor's Note Postoperative readmissions occurred in more than 1 in 10 patients, in this study, with considerable variation across specialties. The majority of variation was attributable to patient-related factors (82.8%); surgical specialty accounted for 14.5% of the variability, and individual surgeon factors accounted for 2.8%. After adjusting for patient and…
US Senate passes Electronic Health Fairness Act
Editor's Note The US Senate on August 5 passed the Electronic Health Fairness Act of 2015 (S 1347), which was heavily promoted by the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association. The legislation protects physicians practicing in ASCs from Medicare meaningful use penalties until a certified electronic health record technology is available for…
CMS extends ASC quality measure deadline until September 30
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has extended the deadline for submitting data for the Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program until September 30, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association reports. This applies to the claims-based measures submitted via QualityNet and the Centers for Disease Control and…
Medicare penalizes more than half of hospitals for readmissions
Editor's Note Nearly 2,600 hospitals will be penalized for missing readmission targets under Medicare, with a loss of $420 million, Kaiser Health News reports. The average Medicare payment reduction is 0.61% per patient stay; 38 hospitals will receive the maximum cut of 3%. The reductions are based on readmissions of…
Which procedures should be added to ASC Medicare list?
Editor's Note The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) is conducting a survey of its members to determine which procedures should be added to the list of ASC Medicare payable procedures for 2016. The information will help ASCA advocate for the expansion of the list of procedures the Centers for Medicare…
Medicare patient mortality, hospitalizations, and expenditures down
Editor's Note Deaths, hospital stays, and spending all decreased for Medicare patients from 1999 to 2013, this study finds. In 1999, the all-cause mortality rate was 5.3%, and by 2013 that rate had fallen to 4.5%. Hospitalizations decreased from around 35,000 per 100,000 annually to 27,000 per 100,000. Inpatient inflation-adjusted…
Penalties based on number of VTEs unfairly imposed
Editor's Note After a review of 128 case histories, Johns Hopkins researchers find that financial penalties imposed by federal and state agencies on Maryland hospitals based solely on the total number of patients who suffer venous thromboemboli (VTEs) fail to account for those that occur despite the consistent and proper…
Healthcare spending to grow 5.8% annually
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary estimates that healthcare spending will grow an average of 5.8% each year from 2014 to 2024. The estimate is higher than the projection of 5.7% made a year ago. Prior to the Affordable Care Act in 2014,…
Free Daily News
- Study: COVID-19's impact on oncological surgery offers lessons for future crises
- Study links pandemic stress to persistent increases in nursing-sensitive quality indicators
- Save the date for the 2025 OR Business Management Conference
- Study: Education, exercise improve knee OA with or without prior surgery
- Study: Early surgery outperforms endoscopy for long-term pancreatitis
- Study: Blood thinner, NSAID combination raises bleeding risk
- Hospital financial report predicts stability, high cybersecurity costs for 2025
- IV fluid shortage drives innovation in hospital hydration practices
- FDA Class 1 recalls target anesthesia workstations, ambulatory infusion pumps, ventilators
- Five leadership lessons from an ASC CEO