-
Would you give your physicians a $19 million bonus? What if you knew doing so would save you $113 million, cut your length of stay and improve quality? Thats what a group of New Jersey hospitals did as part of a pilot program for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It was so successful that the group applied for, and was granted, permission to continue the project on a larger scale.
-
Last year, a 1.25% reduction in hospital costs by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fed the quality bonuses at hospitals more than 600 received something for their efforts, while more than 700 lost something for their perceived lack of it. This year, the bonus pool is being funded by a 1.5% decrease in costs, estimated to be some $1.4 billion up for grabs.
-
There are a lot of things counted in hospitals, a lot of data collected. Thats why it might seem surprising that until very recently, there was no measure of sepsis as a proportion of hospital mortality.
-
There have been several efforts by various groups to curb overuse of healthcare treatments in different settings use of antibiotics for uncomplicated ear infections in children, for example, and the use of surgery to correct back problems that might be resolved without it.
-
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its Ebola infection control guidelines to include a new section on cleaning and disinfection of the patient environment. (See Hospital Infection Control & Prevention Sept. 2014 issue.)
-
In an urgent addition to the Ebola situation, federal public health officials have issued a checklist for hospitals to prepare for incoming cases from the expanding outbreak in West Africa. The six-page detailed checklist issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is available at: http://1.usa.gov/1qjDiC9.
-
In an August 30, 2014 blog post, Rick Sacra, MD, worried about the many people in Liberia who are at risk because of the Ebola tsunami that swept through an already fragile healthcare system.
-
After expanding a successful initiative to cut catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) rates, a New Jersey hospitals catheter days and CAUTIs were cut in half.
-
There are two angles of attack to cutting catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates by 25%, and the harder approach involves changing provider behavior.
-
The Ebola epidemic in Africa is rapidly overwhelming containment efforts, increasing the threat of spread to other countries and continents while giving the virus ample time to mutate as it burns through the human population in a jungled epicenter that borders three nations.
