Quality and Safety
Hospitals across the country have been rocked by nursing strikes over the last year. The coming months show no letup, which means that hospitals will continue to face major disruptions, both financial and otherwise.
The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new initiative that will reward hospitals for the quality of care they provide to Medicare beneficiaries. HHS officials said the program would also help reduce healthcare costs.
API Healthcare, a healthcare-specific workforce management technology company based in Wisconsin, and Kronos, a global workforce management solutions company based in Massachusetts, are terminating their previously announced merger agreement.
More registered nurses working non-overtime hours in a hospital unit results in fewer patient readmissions after discharge, according to a study published in the current issue of Health Services Research.
The American Health Care Association, the National Center for Assisted Living and LeadingAge, a Washington, D.C.-based association of nonprofits focused on quality of life for America's aging population, have negotiated an agreement with the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation that exempts these facilities from video licensing fees.
The use of palliative and hospice care has increased nationwide, according to a report from the Dartmouth Atlas Project, but there is still a disconnect between what patients want for end-of-life care and what kind of care they get.
Two U.S. senators have introduced legislation to overturn a 1979 court injunction that bars the government from revealing what individual physicians earn from Medicare.
Safe lift programs in long-term care facilities lead to fewer worker injuries and lower workers' compensation costs, according to researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities in fiscal year 2012. The rule would increase payment rates under the IRF Prospective Payment System by a projected 1.5 percent — an estimated $120 million nationwide.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced on Tuesday four arrests were made in a south suburban Chicago nursing home after a surprise "Operation Guardian" compliance check.