Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and care providers lack the predictive models needed to assess risks for readmission after joint replacements, finds this study. Researchers tested the applicability of the Carlson Comorbidity Index, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index, and CMS Hierarchical Condition Category to see whether any…

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Editor's Note Despite the Affordable Care Act, which was designed to improve access to care for patients without insurance, patients without insurance have lower use of high-quality hospitals, this study finds. The probability of admission to high-quality hospitals was similar for patients with Medicaid (23.3%) and private insurance (23.0%), but…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 17 announced a deadline extension for reporting CY 2016 electronic Clinical Quality Measure data to avoid a 2.7% payment adjustment in FY 2018. The extension applies to hospitals and critical access hospitals participating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality…

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Editor's Note This study finds that where surgical patients go after they are discharged varies widely, and that variation leads to huge differences in how much their care costs. Variation in postacute care spending between lowest and highest quintiles differed 129% for total hip replacement, 103% for coronary artery bypass…

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Editor's Note In this review article, researchers conclude that implementation of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) programs results in major improvements in clinical outcomes and cost savings, which makes ERAS an important example of value-based care applied to surgery. ERAS practices include: changes from overnight fasting to carbohydrate drinks 2…

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Editor's Note The ECRI Institute on January 9 released its 2017 Top 10 Hospital C-Suite Watch List. The list includes both technologies and critical technology use issues that hospital leaders should be aware of. Included in the list are: an initiative to improve outcomes and costs of abdominal surgery hospital…

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Editor's Note Introduction of the Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) model for patients having ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy at a Kaiser Permanente facility was associated with decreased length of stay and unplanned hospital admissions in this study. A total of 878 patients were included in the preimplementation period, and 1,082 in the…

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Editor's Note Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) and fast track surgery protocols were associated with a significant reduction in postoperative lung, urinary tract, and surgical site infections, compared with conventional protocols in this study. ERAS and fast track protocols also were linked to a significant decrease in hospital length of…

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Editor's Note In this study, the composite outcomes of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, renal failure, or repeat revascularization at 5 year follow-up were similar for patients who had off-pump and on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures. The researchers also found no significant difference in cost or quality of life…

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Editor's Note In this multi-state study examining the relationship between nurse-reported safety culture and the patient experience, researchers found that modifiable aspects of a hospital’s culture can influence the achievement of high HCAHPS scores in nursing and global domains, which directly impact hospital reimbursement. Three safety culture domains were related…

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