Quality

The focus of quality improvement in healthcare is to bolster performance and processes related to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Leaders in this space also ensure the proper selection of imaging exams and procedures, and monitor the safety of services, among other duties. Reimbursement programs such as the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) utilize financial incentives to improve quality. This also includes setting and maintaining care quality initiatives, such as the requirements set by the Joint Commission.

2 Utah hospitals take home patient safety awards

Two hospitals in Utah are among the facilities that received a 2016 Women’s Choice Award for patient safety. Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan, Utah, and Jordan Valley Medical Center-West Valley Campus in West Valley Campus, Utah, announced earning the awards earlier today.

CDC recognizes leaders in VTE prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recognized eight hospitals and healthcare systems as Healthcare-Associated Venous Thromboembolism (HA-VTE) Prevention Champions for their success in implementing innovative and effective ways to prevent venous thromboembolism in healthcare settings.

Thumbnail

Value-based payment modifier results: Less than 1% of groups earn bonuses

CMS has posted results from its implementation of the ACA’s value-based payment modifier program, and out of more than 13,800 eligible physician groups, just 128 groups—less than one percent—will receive “upward adjustments,” or bonuses, for strong performances. The rate for those adjustments is quoted as 15.92 percent, or 31.84 percent for some groups that treated high-risk beneficiaries.

Skip the surgery and pop the placebo, writes cheeky surgeon-author

Any surgery carries risk, which is why decisions to put patients under the knife should be carefully considered. However, one surgeon is calling attention to the fact that some common procedures end up being about as effective as a placebo procedure would have been—and the placebo would have cost a lot less while doing the patient zero harm.

Healthgrades announces 2016 Best Hospital lists, shares new infographic

Healthgrades has released both its America’s 50 and 100 Best Hospitals list for 2016 and a new infographic that details the importance of researching hospitals before sickness makes finding one an urgent necessity.

Infographic: Medical malpractice by the numbers

It's an unfortunate and unescapable fact: medical malpractice happens. And when it does, it affects not only the patients and doctors involved, but also the healthcare community as a whole. Get an inside look at medical malpractice in this exclusive infographic.

Thumbnail

VA hospitals have lower mortality than non-VA hospitals in 3 hard-case categories

VA hospitals have been objectively measured against non-VA counterparts on some key performance indicators, and the former have defied their troubled reputation: They emerge from the statistical comparison looking, on average, quite competitively competent.

Thumbnail

CMS penalizes 758 hospitals for poor performance on hospital-acquired conditions

For fiscal year 2016, 758 hospitals were penalized under the hospital-acquired condition (HAC) reduction program. They will have their reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reduced by 1 percent for all Medicare discharges between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.

Around the web

The tirzepatide shortage that first began in 2022 has been resolved. Drug companies distributing compounded versions of the popular drug now have two to three more months to distribute their remaining supply.

The 24 members of the House Task Force on AI—12 reps from each party—have posted a 253-page report detailing their bipartisan vision for encouraging innovation while minimizing risks. 

Merck sent Hansoh Pharma, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, an upfront payment of $112 million to license a new investigational GLP-1 receptor agonist. There could be many more payments to come if certain milestones are met.