Tag Archives: Health System
13 recent healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements
11 recent hospital outlook and credit rating actions
NCQA will ask health plans to report infections acquired at network hospitals
- On Tuesday, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) added four new quality measures to the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), which currently consists of more than 80 measures.
- The four new measures are rates of :
- Standardized healthcare-associated infection ratio,
- Follow-up after emergency department visit for mental illness,
- Follow-up after emergency department visit for alcohol and other drug dependence,
- Depression remission or response for adolescents and adults.
- The first measure — standardized infection ratios — will measure ratios for central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, MRSA infections, and Clostridium difficile intestinal infections. According to Gail Wilensky, a senior fellow at Project HOPE, “These infection rates ‘shouldn’t occur with appropriate, high-quality care.’”
Medicaid plans can now pay mental health institutions. Most won’t until 2017
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160705/NEWS/160639991
A policy that lifts a 50-year ban on Medicaid pay for mental health institutions kicked in Tuesday, but it may be months before many enrollees can take advantage of the new coverage
Since the creation of Medicaid in 1965, the program has excluded payment for institutions of mental disease (IMDs) for beneficiaries 21 and over. Most residential treatment facilities for mental health and substance-use disorders with more than 16 beds did not qualify for Medicaid reimbursement.
Feds drop challenge to West Virginia hospital takeover
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/article88050667.html
“This case presents another example of healthcare providers attempting to use state legislation to shield potentially anticompetitive combinations from antitrust enforcement,” the FTC said in a statement Wednesday. “Our decision to dismiss this complaint without prejudice does not necessarily mean that we will do the same in other cases in which a cooperative agreement is sought or approved.”
St. Mary’s has 393 beds and Cabell Huntington has 303 beds. They are 3 miles apart and are the top two private employers in Cabell County, with nearly 5,000 total employees. The combined operation would represent the second-largest hospital chain in the state behind Charleston Area Medical Center.
Shuttered California hospital draws $1M bid
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/shuttered-california-hospital-draws-1m-bid.html
Colusa (Calif.) Regional Medical Center has been closed since April, but the hospital has received a takeover offer that may allow it to reopen.
Sutter to close Alta Bates Summit Medical Center hospital in Berkeley in 2030
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, the only hospital in Berkeley, has announced it will be closing in the year 2030. The hospital is not compliant with future statewide earthquake standards. The building would have to get retrofitted for seismic stability by 2030, but Sutter Health doesn’t want to deal with the renovation.
Pay-for-Performance: Will the Models Provide Value?
In theory, paying for performance makes logical sense, says Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, director of Harvard’s Global Health Institute. But eliminating pay-for performance programs isn’t the answer, he says. Instead, an overhaul is necessary.
How Ohio Hospitals Are Tackling Sepsis
HENRY KOTULA 