Patient cost-sharing, insurance plans linked to postop readmissions
Editor's Note Increased patient cost-sharing among privately insured, nonelderly patients was associated with lower odds of readmission after abdominal surgery in this study. A $1,284 increase in patient out-of-pocket payments during admission for surgery was associated with a 19% decrease in the odds of 7-day readmission and a 17% decrease…
ICD-10 debuts October 1
Editor's Note The healthcare industry transitioned to the ICD-10 system October 1, expanding procedure codes from 14,000 to 70,000 for providers and from 44,000 to 72,000 for hospitals. Medicare officials say they won’t deny claims to providers solely for lack of specificity for the first 12 months, but that doesn’t…
Aetna to buy Humana for $37 Billion
Editor's Note Aetna Inc has agreed to buy rival health insurer Humana Inc for $37 billion in cash and stock, creating the second-largest provider of health insurance in the US. The Affordable Care Act has spurred mergers by introducing rules that push insurers to look for savings. Humana’s 3.2 million Medicare…
Professional standards and patient empathy ease burden of payment collection
Delivering quality healthcare doesn’t end when a patient leaves the postanesthesia care unit. It continues until the final installment of the bill is paid. It continues even when the payment is overdue, missing, or refused. To stay in business, an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) must collect the fees it has…
Potential rewards justify efforts to create bundled payment programs
Physician alignment is a key element of current hospital strategy. Last month, we looked at how hospital ORs can use co-management agreements to build strong collaboration with surgeons. Payment reform has created an even more sophisticated option—participation in a bundled payment program. Bundled payment initiatives are more complex than most…
Editorial
It’s too soon to measure the success or failure of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law in 2010 but is just beginning to be implemented... sort of. Enrollment in health insurance exchanges got off to a rocky start on October 1 because of technological problems, and…
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