Recent Stories
When a hospital patient is also a guest

Hospital leaders differ sharply in how they define the patient experience and how they prioritize their improvement initiatives, leading to a clash within the industry.
Thousands of women sue Bayer over medical issues using Bayer's Essure

Rina Kellogg is among a legion of thousands of women who are speaking up and filing lawsuits against Bayer, for severe medical problems they say were triggered by using Essure.
How much charity care do not-for-profit hospitals provide?

A Modern Healthcare analysis shows that tax-exempt hospitals provide a wide range of charity care.
Dual-eligibles: The next target in hospital readmissions penalties

The CMS is exploring how to levy excess readmission penalties fairly on hospitals, based on their patient population.
Using music to stabilize NICU babies—as well as their parents

When music therapist Christine Vaskas works with babies in the neonatal intensive-care unit, the effect of her interventions are almost always immediately apparent.
Dual-eligibles: The next target in hospital readmissions penalties

The CMS is exploring how to levy excess readmission penalties fairly on hospitals, based on their patient population.
New federal safety data enables solutions to reduce infection rates

After a South Dakota hospital recently ran a standard clinical report through a federal healthcare safety database, it discovered that its patients had a high number of hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infections.
In Medicare, states are far from equal

It is widely recognized that the quality and cost of healthcare varies widely across the U.S., but the reasons why are less clear.
CMS puts $120 million into bridging gaps between clinic and community

The CMS Innovation Center last week said it will give up to $120 million to 32 organizations selected to participate in its Accountable Health Communities model.
CMS puts $120 million into bridging gaps between clinic and community

Under the Accountable Health Communities model, organizations will test ways to improve collaboration between healthcare providers and the local community and better address the social determinants of health.
Inspecting the role of the physician in ACOs

As healthcare reformers search for the key to a successful accountable care organization, they should look very carefully at one important but overlooked factor that could significantly affect the model's effectiveness in lowering costs and improving quality, a new study suggests.
Cherry-picking patients: It might be business as usual for many hospitals

When the CEO of Mayo Clinic said the world-renowned, not-for-profit health system would prioritize caring for privately insured patients over publicly insured ones, it triggered an inquiry from the Minnesota Health Department and dismay and criticism from researchers and ethicists.
More uninsured patients in N.Y., but less indigent-care funding

Hospitals that provided the majority of care to uninsured patients in New York City received a minority of state dollars aimed at compensating hospitals for such care, according to the New York State Health Foundation.
Devising faster, better stroke care

In an effort to improve a patient's function and recovery after a stroke, Kaiser Permanente of Northern California redesigned treatment protocols in a program it dubbed Stroke EXPRESS, with EXPRESS standing for EXpediting the PRocess of Evaluating and Stopping Stroke
Future unclear for CMS' mandatory value-based initiatives

The CMS' decision to delay expansion of a major, mandatory bundled-payment pilot, the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, raises questions about the future of such initiatives under the Trump administration.