Click here to review action at individual homes. From Kaiser Health News Medicare Cuts Payments To Nursing Homes Whose Patients Keep Ending Up In Hospital Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News The federal government has taken a new step to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions of nursing home patients by lowering a year’s worth of payments to … Continue reading KHN: 80 percent of #Massachusetts #nursinghomes penalized for avoidable hospitalizations
Medicare
KHN: We hear a lot about our Senator Elizabeth Warren. She wants people to be able to hear more by requiring #Medicare to pay providers to train people on how to use their #hearingaids
From Kaiser Health News: Can You Hear Me Now? Senate Bill On Hearing Aids May Make The Answer ‘Yes’ Michelle Andrews Last December, Deb Wiese bought hearing aids for her parents, one for each of them. She ordered them online from a big-box retailer and paid $719 for the pair. But her parents, in their … Continue reading KHN: We hear a lot about our Senator Elizabeth Warren. She wants people to be able to hear more by requiring #Medicare to pay providers to train people on how to use their #hearingaids
KHN: Medicare Fails To Recover Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Lab Overcharges
By Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News Used by permission. Note comment from Boston lawyer. Also published by STATnews. Five years ago, Companion DX Reference Lab hoped to cash in on cutting-edge genetic tests paid for by Medicare. The Houston lab marketed a test to assess how a person’s genes affect tolerance for drugs such as … Continue reading KHN: Medicare Fails To Recover Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Lab Overcharges
NYTimes story on #readmission prevention coaches features Rhode Island program
From the NY Times New Old Age Column: The transitions coach ducks into your mother’s hospital room for a brief introduction before she’s discharged. The coach explains that her job is to help keep patients safe at home and asks if she can call to set up a home visit. Health researchers know that transitions … Continue reading NYTimes story on #readmission prevention coaches features Rhode Island program
Your tax dollars at work: How much Medicare pays your doctor
For the first time -- with a little legal prodding-- Medicare has released information on how much it pays individual doctors. The New York Times already has a searchable database. Check it out. A tiny fraction of the 880,000 doctors and other health care providers who take Medicare accounted for nearly a quarter of the roughly … Continue reading Your tax dollars at work: How much Medicare pays your doctor
The importance of the hospital patient survey and more policy news
Two local bloggers contribute to the new edition of Health Wonk Review, a bi-weekly digest of health policy posts. HealthBlawg offers a wrap-up post on the health information technology and health care policy conference in DC earlier this month. The Datapaloozers are looking at data streams from the government and beyond in an effort to manage the health … Continue reading The importance of the hospital patient survey and more policy news
Readmission penalties in Massachusetts hit teaching hospitals
Medscape reports on a JAMA article looking at readmission rates: Ninety-five-bed Falmouth (Massachusetts) Hospital on Cape Cod doesn't have the national reputation of Massachusetts General Hospital, 77 miles to the north in Boston. But the small hospital bests the big teaching hospital in the big city on this point — it's not getting penalized by … Continue reading Readmission penalties in Massachusetts hit teaching hospitals
#Medicare boss Berwick for Massachusetts governor? Changing what makes sense #hcr #mapoli
Sure sounds like it from the Globe story. Berwick, a Newton pediatrician and longtime Harvard faculty ...has been contemplating a run for the past two or three months, meeting with 40 or 50 people, including political veterans and consultants. ...“I’m strongly considering it,” said Berwick, whose interest in the office was first reported by State … Continue reading #Medicare boss Berwick for Massachusetts governor? Changing what makes sense #hcr #mapoli
Hounded ex-Medicare chief Berwick back in Boston
Donald Berwick, who was hounded out of Washington for saying something nice about the UK health system, is back in town and on WBUR today. Also check out today's NTYimes op/ed by Joe Nocera: Dr. Donald Berwick was already in Massachusetts when I spoke to him Sunday afternoon. He was back in the Newton home where he’d lived for 30 years, being … Continue reading Hounded ex-Medicare chief Berwick back in Boston
All that money you pay into Medicare? Not enough for Partners
The state held hearings this week to explore the possibility of setting up a global payments system, which the Globe describes this way: ...(Plans) that put doctors and hospitals on an annual budget for each patient’s care. Another is to create a regulatory framework for how health care providers can form partnerships, called accountable care … Continue reading All that money you pay into Medicare? Not enough for Partners
Boston Health News 