Policy and Legislation
Medicare will levy $227 million in fines against hospitals for failing to reduce readmissions.
A recent Consumer Reports analysis rating U.S. hospitals on surgical care has found that the biggest and most renowned hospitals aren't necessarily the best.
A small but increasing number of doctors have stopped taking Medicare patients, according to new data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Reasons cited include low reimbursement rates, high paperwork burden, and pressure to adopt electronic medical records. And a few doctors are scrapping private insurance, too, for some of the same reasons.
House Energy and Commerce Committee has unanimously approved legislation to repeal and replace the sustainable growth rate formula, moving another step closer to a more stable physician payment system.
There are tens of thousands of policies in Medicare's policy manual, which makes for stiff competition for the "Most Maddening" award. But my vote goes to the policy around "observation status," which is crazy-making for patients, administrators, and physicians.
In this clip from Health Datapalooza IV, panelists Farzad Mostashari, Dick Foster and Uwe Reinhardt discuss whether or not the private sector is beginning to match government investment in health IT.
Medicare patients' chances of being admitted to the hospital or kept for observation depend on what hospital they go to -- even when their symptoms are the same, says a new report by the HHS Inspector General.
In advance of August 1, when drug, device and biological companies, medical supply manufacturers and group purchasing organizations will be required to collect and document marketing expenses under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, pharmaceutical and medical device companies have been preparing but they're still laboring to adapt.
On July 26, 2013, CMS announced temporary moratoria on enrollment of new home health providers and ambulance suppliers under Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in three parts of the country identified as "fraud hot-spots."
Doctors may be cost-conscious, but price never trumps patients' best interests.