Quality and Safety

Nursing home that either merged or were acquired by major chains between 1993 and 2010 had more health deficiency citations than independent ones, according to a study published Monday in Health Affairs, though researchers said facilities that sold to chains were already struggling with quality issues.

While not every hospital may be as analytically-advanced, many of the lessons learned at UMMC can be applicable even to smaller hospitals looking to make the most of their data projects.

According to a new study, shortages of many drugs that are essential in emergency care have increased in both number and duration in recent years even as shortages for drugs for non-acute or chronic care have eased somewhat.

The study measures how many people were hospitalized between 2002 and 2012 because they were abusing heroin or prescription painkillers, and how many of them got serious infections related to their drug use. It also tracks what hospitals charged to treat those patients and how the hospitals were paid.

Between January 2010 and July 2015, the analysis found, inspectors identified 3,016 home health agencies -- nearly a quarter of all those examined by Medicare -- that had inadequately reviewed or tracked medications for new patients. In some cases, nurses failed to realize that patients were taking potentially dangerous combinations of drugs, risking abnormal heart rhythms, bleeding, kidney damage and seizures.

In the 2017 open enrollment period, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will pilot a program on Healthcare.gov to pair results of a 5-star care rating with health plans on the federal marketplace.

The more flexible Quality Payment Program for physicians is aimed at reducing the reporting burden and offers financial incentives.

Patients in some states are paying more than double what those in other states pay for healthcare services, a recent study by the Health Care Cost Institute has found. In fact, even within single states, prices can vary widely.

For the first time, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is adding Medicare claims data submitted by hospitals to quality measures posted on its consumer-based website, Nursing Home Compare.

Vermont led the country with 83 percent of hospitals earning 'A' grades while Maine and Rhode Island both came in second with 62.5 percent of hospitals earning top grades.