Category: Healthcare Finance News

IBM Watson: Top 100 Hospitals provide better care at lower cost, with higher margins

All types of hospitals made the list, from small community facilities to major teaching hospitals, delivering satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Opioid misuse sending more older adults to emergency departments, study finds

More older adults in the ED is a bad sign for patients but also for providers, who often struggle with costs and utilization.

American Medical Association urges more time for detailed feedback on ONC, CMS information blocking rules

Moving too quickly could lead to unintended consequences that could negatively impact patient privacy, physician burden, the AMA said.

Changes needed in teaching medical residents how to communicate patient handoffs

End-of-shift handoffs pose a substantial patient safety risk, and has been linked with delays in diagnosis, medication errors and longer stays.

Medical University of South Carolina completes acquisition of 4 hospitals from Community Health Systems

The facilities have been rebranded with the MUSC name, growing the system by 827 beds in the milestone deal.

Hospitals not increasing electronic health record integration after consolidation or acquisition, Health Affairs shows

Just 35 percent of hospitals acquired from 2012 to 2014 switched to the acquiring systems’ EHR vendor following consolidation.

Bill proposes to extend Medicare and Medicaid rebate rule to commercial market

The bill and HHS rule would increase premiums by 25 percent, as insurers use the rebates to lower premiums, AHIP says.

CDC urges hospitals to step up their protections, protocols against staph infections

In 2017, more than 119,000 bloodstream staph infections occurred and 20,000 people died from them. What’s more, a rise in the infections could be due to rampant opioid use.

Nearly all hospital leaders say supply chain optimization improves margins, survey shows

Supply chain management is a medium or high priority yet just 13 percent say it’s a top investment priority.

Nursing homes subject to one star rating if they go more than four days without an RN onsite

CMS is also establishing separate quality ratings for short-stay and long-stay residents.