Medicare readmissions

Can Medicare Feed its Way Out of Some Readmissions?

Feeding some Medicare patients after they are discharged from the hospital could reduce readmissions and save taxpayers millions, a new study has concluded. According to the new Bipartisan Policy Center report Next Steps in Chronic Care: Expanding Innovative Medicare Benefits, providing a limited number of free meals to certain Medicare patients could eliminate nearly 10,000 readmissions a year and save more than $57 million. Participating patients would be those with more than one of a limited number of chronic medical conditions and the meals would be for one week only. According to the report, more than 575,000 Medicare beneficiaries would [...]

iqtsupport2019-07-31T06:00:03-04:00July 31, 2019|Medicare|

Surprise! Teaching Hospitals Cost Less Than Non-Teaching Hospitals

30-day and episode-of-care costs are lower for care provided by major teaching hospitals than they are for other teaching hospitals and non-teaching hospitals. Or so concludes a new study published by JAMA Open Network. According to the study: Major teaching hospitals’ initial hospitalization costs are higher. Major teaching hospital costs are less than other hospitals after 30 days of care and over entire episodes of care. Major teaching hospitals’ costs are similar to those of other teaching hospitals and non-teaching hospitals over a 90-day episode of care. Major teaching hospitals’ patients incurred lower costs for post-acute care. Major teaching hospitals [...]

iqtsupport2019-06-13T06:00:38-04:00June 13, 2019|hospitals, Medicare|

Mixed Verdict: Home Health Leads to More Readmissions But Lower Costs

Readmission rates are greater for patients discharged from hospitals to home health care than they are for those discharged to skilled nursing facilities but home health services cost so much less than nursing homes that home health saves money even with the higher numbers of hospital readmissions. This is one of the major findings of a new study comparing differences in outcomes for patients who are admitted to skilled nursing facilities upon discharge from the hospital to those for patients who go direct home and receive home health services. The study also found no meaningful differences in patient mortality or [...]

iqtsupport2019-03-22T06:00:57-04:00March 22, 2019|Alternative payment models, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy|

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 in 30-day mortality rates after hospital discharge. Learn more about [...]

iqtsupport2017-07-19T15:21:29-04:00July 19, 2017|Medicare|