Jordan Rau's stories have been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Politico, and on npr.org and nbcnews.com, among other media outlets. He came to KHN when it was started in 2009 from the Los Angeles Times, where he covered California government and health care politics in Sacramento.
The poll found that nearly half of Americans believed there is still a federal requirement for everyone to obtain health insurance, even though Congress’ tax bill last year repealed the penalties for that requirement in the Affordable Care Act, known as the individual mandate.
Last week, Medicare lowered a year's worth of payments to 751 hospitals to penalize them for having the highest rates of patient injuries.
Dr. Ashish Jha, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the fight over abolishing the Affordable Care Act has drowned out talk about how to make the health care system more effective.
CMS is cracking down on hospital-acquired infections, starting with MRSA and C. difficile.
The fines are based on Medicare patients who left the hospital from July 2012 through June 2015.
Hospitals argue the ratings will make places that treat the toughest cases look bad, but Medicare has held firm, saying that consumers need a simple way to objectively gauge quality.
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The government says the ratings, which will award between one and five stars to each hospital, will be more useful to consumers than its current mishmash of more than 100 individual metrics, many of which deal with technical matters. The hospital industry, however, fears the ratings will be misleading and oversimplify the many types of care at the institutions.
The Department of Health and Human Services said under its proposal, short-term health policies could be written for no longer than three months, instead of up to a year as is currently allowed. In addition, consumers would not be able to renew the policies.
If you come out with a rating that says Cleveland Clinic is terrible but podunk hospital in North Carolina, they’re the bomb, there’s a disconnect,” said Ashish K. Jha, a professor at Harvard’s public health school.
The 231 hospitals the study identified had below average scores on quality measures but were awarded the bonuses because caring for their patients during their stays and in the 30 days following their discharge cost Medicare less than what it cost at half of hospitals evaluated in the program.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Bad coordination often plagues patients’ transitions to the care of home health agencies, as well as to nursing homes and other professionals charged with helping them recuperate, studies show.
The penalties, created by the federal Affordable Care Act, have incited a vehement debate about quality at many academic medical centers often revered for cutting-edge treatments and top specialists. Are these vaunted hospitals really more dangerous than local, unsung hospitals?
The initial measures are intended to make it easier for Medicare, patients, insurers and employers to assess quality and determine pay.
Even as insurance plans limit the networks of doctors and hospitals to restrain prices, a survey of 1,204 people found that many didn’t mind.
Nationally, infection reporting is done voluntarily, and many facilities do not do it. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has begun fining hospitals with high rates of infections and other incidents of patient harm.
