Hospital Care Unaffected By Quality Payments, GAO Finds
The Government Accountability Office found bonuses and penalties have been small, and hospital performance has been steady.
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Poll Finds Overwhelming Support For Medicare Paying For End-Of-Life Talks
The plan to include funding in the health law for these discussions between doctors and patients was vehemently opposed by some Republicans, but 8 of 10 Americans support the practice.
By Jordan Rau -
Think Health Prices Are High Near You? Maybe Yes — And No
The Health Care Cost Institute’s analysis of billing claims from three of the biggest commercial insurers finds that health services can be expensive in some areas while bargains in others. The findings complicate an assumption about health care markets.
By Jordan Rau -
Medicare Yet To Save Money Through Heralded Medical Payment Model
The government expected accountable care organizations to save Medicare millions by now, but the program is falling short of targets, records show. KHN also has performance data for all 353 ACOs in 2014.
By Jordan Rau and Jenny Gold -
Doctor-Owned Hospitals Are Not Cherry-Picking Patients, Study Finds
The newest research goes against a variety of studies that have shown these facilities owned by physicians take some of the most profitable patients while leaving other hospitals with more complex and costly cases.
By Jordan Rau -
Lack Of Cooperation Among Health Facilities Mars Antibiotic Resistance Fight, CDC Says
Infected patients often move from hospitals to nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and coordination could help keep those infections from spreading.
By Jordan Rau -
Half Of Nation’s Hospitals Fail Again To Escape Medicare’s Readmission Penalties
The fines, in their fourth year, are assessed on hospitals that have patients frequently return and will cost nearly 2,600 hospitals $420 million in total.
By Jordan Rau -
2015 Home Health Agencies Ratings: 5-Star Facilities
Kaiser Health News lists the 239 home health agencies that received Medicare's highest rating of five stars.
By Jordan Rau -
2015 Home Health Agencies Ratings: 1-Star And 1.5-Star Facilities
KHN also lists the six home health agencies that received Medicare's lowest rating of one star and the 195 agencies rated one and a half stars. These ratings, released July 2015, are based on performance from fall 2013 through last year.
By Jordan Rau -
Home Health Agencies Get Medicare’s Star Treatment
For the first time, the government is assigning one to five stars to the agencies that care for seniors in their homes. Nearly half of 9,000 agencies rated captured average scores.
By Jordan Rau -
Having Survived Court Ruling, Insurance Markets Still Face Economic Threats
Among the challenges for these online exchanges set up by the health law are attracting more customers, keeping consumers’ health costs affordable and quality high, and finding enough financing.
By Jordan Rau -
Patients Not Hurt When Their Hospitals Close, Study Finds
Despite frequent fears in communities when losing their hospitals, mortality rates do not rise, say Harvard researchers who examined 194 closures.
By Jordan Rau -
Medicare Itemizes Its $103 Billion Drug Bill
Federal officials release data showing prescription histories of hundreds of thousands of doctors and identifying the most common and costly drugs.
By Jordan Rau -
Few Consumers Are Using Quality, Price Information To Make Health Decisions
Despite the federal government’s push to make more information available to consumers, two out of three people say it is still difficult to find out how much a doctor or hospital charges for a specific procedure or treatment, according to a new poll.
By Jordan Rau -
Only 251 Hospitals Score Five Stars In Medicare’s New Ratings
The ratings, posted on Medicare’s website Thursday, rank hospitals based on patient reviews.
By Jordan Rau -
Medicare Is Stingy In First Year Of Doctor Bonuses
More than 300 large medical groups are being penalized because they did not score well on quality measures or didn’t report their efforts to the government. The incentives will soon expand to all doctors who treat Medicare patients.
By Jordan Rau -
Hundreds Of Hospitals Struggle To Improve Patient Satisfaction
Pleasing patients has become more important to hospitals as Medicare takes consumers views into account when setting payments. Most hospitals are getting better, but others have not improved since the government started publishing ratings six years ago.
By Jordan Rau -
Fancy Flourishes At Hospitals Don’t Impress Patients, Study Finds
A study at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins finds that patients in older buildings rate their care about the same as those in a sleek new hospital tower.
By Jordan Rau -
UCLA Bacteria Outbreak Highlights The Challenges Of Curbing Infections
The lethal infection is one of three that the CDC says urgently require close monitoring and prevention to halt their spread.
By Jordan Rau -
Some Seeking Insurance Told They Didn’t Qualify, Others Balked At Cost, Poll Finds
Confusion about federal assistance stymied many from getting insurance in the first year of the health law marketplaces.
By Jordan Rau
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