Manufacturers optimistic about repeal of medical device tax
Editor's Note On October 24, 179 House members (including 43 Democrats) signed a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis) calling for repeal of the medical device tax, the October 25 issue of The Hill reports. The medical device tax, which was included in the Affordable Care Act to help pay…
AHA study: Regulatory overload is unsustainable
Editor's Note A study from the American Hospital Association (AHA) finds that the regulatory burden faced by healthcare providers is substantial and unsustainable, the October 25 AHA News Now reports. Hospitals, health systems, and post-acute care providers spend nearly $39 billion annually on administrative activities to comply with federal…
Effect of hospital-wide measure of readmissions for HRRP
Editor's Note Changing to a hospital-wide measure of readmissions for the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) would result in only 76 more hospitals being eligible to receive penalties, but it would substantially increase the penalties for safety-net hospitals, this study finds. For the analysis, researchers used Medicare claims from 2011…
Survey finds nearly three-quarters of physicians prefer fee-for-service models
Editor's Note A survey of 980 physicians in eight specialties by New York City-based Bain and Company found that 73% prefer fee-for-service rather than value-based care models because of concerns about the complexity and quality of care associated with value-based models, the October 12 Healthcare Informatics reports. More than 60%…
CMS moving MU attestation to QualityNet Secure Portal
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is moving submission of 2017 meaningful use (MU) data from the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program Registration and Attestation System to the QualityNet Secure Portal (QNet), effective January 2, 2018, the October 4 EHR Intelligence reports. QNet is currently…
Factors linked to readmission after total hip
Editor's Note All-cause readmission is the only metric in widespread use, but it overlooks important information that enables readmission risk to be understood, this study finds. Of 514,455 patients in the UK analyzed over a 10-year period, there were 30,489 all-cause readmissions, 16,499 readmissions related to the surgical site, and…
Physicians spend more than half their time on EHR tasks
Editor's Note Primary care physicians spend more than half of their workday typing data on a computer screen and completing other electronic health record (EHR) tasks, this study from the University of Wisconsin and the American Medical Association finds. During a typical 11.4-hour workday, physicians spent nearly 6 hours on…
Editorial
Since July, when repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) stalled, healthcare reform has been somewhat overshadowed by events such as natural disasters and concerns about national security. Now, with insurers due to announce rates for the coming year, Congress is working on a bill to stabilize the…
Bill to reduce EHR burden clears subcommittee
Editor's Note The House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee on September 13 approved legislation that would remove a requirement to make meaningful use standards for electronic health records (EHRs) more stringent over time, the September 13 AHA News Now reports. In a letter of support for the bill, which is…
Effect of Medicare's Hospital Readmission Reduction Program on surgical readmissions
Editor's Note From 2008 to 2014, rates of postoperative readmissions declined for both Hospital Readmission Reduction Program targeted procedures (total hip and total knee replacements)--from 6.8% to 4.8%--and nontargeted procedures (colectomy, lung resection, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, coronary artery bypass graft, aortic valve replacement, and mitral valve repair)--from 17.1% to…
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