Medicare Sending Mixed Signals on Hospital Quality
764 hospitals were recently penalized by Medicare for having too many patient infections and potentially avoidable medical complications. As a result, they will see their Medicare payments reduced one percent over the next year – a standard penalty under the agency’s Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. Thirty-eight of those hospitals cited for this problem, however, were awarded five stars – the highest rating – on Medicare’s Care Compare web site. Another 134 penalized hospitals received four-star ratings. Why the seeming contradiction? Kaiser Health News explores this question, and offers some answers, in the article “Health Care Paradox: Medicare Penalizes Dozens of [...]