Medicare

Urban Hospitals in ACOS Better at Reducing Some Readmissions Rates

A new study has found that hospitals located in metropolitan areas that participate in accountable care organizations are doing a better job than other hospitals of reducing 30-day readmissions rates for Medicare patients who originally were discharged into skilled nursing facilities. It appears this improved performance can be attributed to two things: better discharge planning and better coordination with the skilled nursing facilities. To learn more go here to see the study “ACO-Affiliated Hospitals Reduced Rehospitalizations from Skilled Nursing Facilities Faster Than Other Hospitals.”

iqtsupport2017-01-17T06:00:47-05:00January 17, 2017|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, hospitals, Medicare|

Bundled Payments Reduce Hip, Knee Replacement Costs

Medicare’s bundled payment program for knee and hip replacements is reducing the cost of such treatments, a study has found. According to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine, the Medicare bundled payment program, known as the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement program, has driven down the cost of the those joint replacements more than 20 percent or $5500 a case. Most of the savings have been derived through a significant decrease in the use of post-acute care, according to the study. This decrease occurred, moreover, at a time when Medicare spending on joint replacement rose five percent. Learn more [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-12T16:35:59-05:00January 12, 2017|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare, Medicare regulations|

Medicare Program Reduced Readmissions

Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program has resulted in a reduction of avoidable hospital readmissions. Or so concludes a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. According to the study, which included an analysis of 15 million patient discharges beween 2000 and 2013, readmissions declined after Medicare introduced the program and the hospitals with the poorest performance prior to the program’s launch experienced the greatest improvement in reducing avoidable readmissions. To learn more, read the study “Readmission Rates After Passage of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program: A Pre–Post Analysis” here, on the web site of the Annals of Internal [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-06T06:00:49-05:00January 6, 2017|Medicare|

New Medicare Payments to Help With High-Need Patients

New Medicare payment practices that took effect on January 1 will improve payments to physicians who care for high-need patients in the hope that those enhanced payments will improve the care such seniors receive. Among those improved payments are: payments to physicians for the time they spend working with specialists, families, pharmacists, caregivers, and others to coordinate services for seriously ill patients improved payments for time spent coordinating seniors’ transitions between different care settings and home and connecting those patients with additional resources separate payments to perform cognitive impairment assessments payments for time physicians spend reviewing patient records and talking [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-03T06:00:14-05:00January 3, 2017|Medicare|