US Representatives ask Secretary Price’s assistance with ASC inflationary update measure
Editor's Note A bipartisan group of 24 US Representatives sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, MD, on May 26 asking him to use his statutory authority to move ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to…
CMS issues guide for quality payment programs
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a guide summarizing technical assistance resources available to small, underserved, and rural hospitals participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (AAPM). The guide also provides resources for quality innovation networks and…
Study: QI measures reduce readmissions, cost savings vary
Editor's Note Quality improvement (QI) measures can be effective in reducing readmissions, relative to the status quo, but cost savings vary, this meta-analysis finds. In this review of 50 QI studies, interventions reduced readmissions by an average of 12.1% for heart failure patients and 6.3% among the general population. However,…
National Advocacy Day leads to new cosponsors for ASC legislation
Editor's Note The Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality and Access Act of 2017 (HR 1838/S 1001) has added new cosponsors in the US House of Representatives and was introduced in the Senate, the May 23 Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) News Digest reports. Many of the cosponsors signed on as a…
Lower readmission rates linked to Medicare's HRRP
Studies have shown an association between reduced hospital readmission rates and programs implemented as part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) to reduce healthcare costs and improve quality of care. Researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and the RAND…
Effect of Medicare’s Nonpayment Program on HACs
Editor's Note Medicare’s Nonpayment Program of 2008, which withholds hospital reimbursement for costs related to hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), was associated with a declined in the incidence of selected HACs, and the decline was greater in hospitals with a higher Medicare utilization ratio (MUR), this study finds. Of 867,584 Medicare patients…
Implications of reimbursement for postop complications on quality, value
Editor's Note Postoperative complications add an important marginal cost to Medicare payments and lead to a substantial portion of payments to hospitals, this study finds. Analyzing Medicare data for three procedures from 2009 to 2012, payments per uncomplicated surgical procedure were $13,500 for colectomy, $12,300 for total knee arthroplasty, and…
Study: Most hospitals received penalties for excess readmissions
Editor's Note More than half of hospitals were penalized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in all five years of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) initiated by the Affordable Care Act, this study finds. Among the study findings: Penalties doubled since the beginning of the program, from…
CMS releases proposed FY 2018 inpatient payments, policies
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 14 issued a proposed rule that would update FY 2018 Medicare inpatient payments and policies. Among the changes, the rule: would increase payment rates by 1.6%, after accounting for inflation and other adjustments required by law includes an…
Study: Physicians now spend half their time on computer tasks
Editor's Note Over time, electronic health records (EHRs) show a decline in face-to-face patient assessments by physicians and an increase in computer tasks, this study finds. Physicians now spend 50% of their time with patients and 50% of their time on computers. The analysis included 471 physicians who worked on…
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- Study: CT scan radiation could drive 5% of future cancer cases
- New studies, surgical feats advance organ transplant medicine
- Commentary: Cyberattacks threaten financial survival of surgical practices
- Tariffs strain supply chains, split medical manufacturing community
- Study: Systemic gender bias embedded in surgical practice
- Literature review: Endoscope disinfection failures highlight need for stronger sterilization practices
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