Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
GAO Looks at Use of Telehealth in Medicare, Medicaid
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has examined the use of telehealth services in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In a study that looked at current Medicare practices, sampled Medicaid practices in six states, and consulted selected provider, payment, and patient associations, the GAO evaluated the extent to which telehealth is used in Medicare and Medicaid today, factors that affect the use of telehealth in Medicare, and the degree to which new payment and delivery models might affect future telehealth utilization in Medicare. The report does not offer recommendations. The GAO [...]
CMS to Consider Model Behavioral Health Payment and Delivery Program
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has invited interested parties to weigh in on the possibility of creating a new Medicare model program for behavioral health care delivery and payment. According to a notice published in the Federal Register, The Innovation Center is interested in designing a potential payment or service delivery model to improve health care quality and access, while lowering the cost of care for Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP beneficiaries with behavioral health conditions. The model may include participation by other payers, qualify as an Advanced Alternative [...]
Congress Looks at 340B Program
Last week the House Energy and Commerce Committee took a look at the 340B prescription drug discount program, which requires pharmaceutical companies to sell discounted drugs for outpatient use to hospitals that care for especially large numbers of low-income patients. The previous week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a proposed Medicare regulation calling for significant reductions in Medicare payments for such drugs. The hearing touched on the CMS proposal to reduce Medicare payments for 340B drugs, the high prices of prescription drugs, the 340B program’s growth over [...]
Mortality Doesn’t Go Up When Readmissions Come Down
The emphasis in recent years on reducing hospital readmissions has not resulted in an increase in post-discharge deaths among Medicare patients. Or so concludes a new study published in JAMA. Looking at outcomes associated with Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program, the study “Association of Changing Hospital Readmission Rates With Mortality Rates After Hospital Discharge” found that … of more than 5 million Medicare fee-for-service hospitalizations for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and pneumonia from 2008 to 2014, reductions in hospital 30-day readmission rates were weakly but significantly correlated with reductions [...]
CMS Seeks to Track Post-ASC Hospitalizations
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced a new initiative to track hospital admissions among Medicare patients who have recently been served at an ambulatory surgical center. The new measure would become part of the agency’s broader quality reporting efforts. The federal government has a large stake in the performance of ambulatory surgical centers: it spends $4 billion a year on care for more than three million Medicare patients at such facilities. Learn more about the project CMS calls “Development of a Facility-Level Quality Measure of Unplanned Hospital [...]