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On Oct. 30, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final 2009 rule for the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS).
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In preparation for its unannounced survey with DNV Healthcare, Citizens Medical Center personnel readied their survey preparation box. Last minute documents were pulled when surveyors arrived for the unannounced survey a patient census, the surgery schedule, a list of patients in restraints.
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For the sake of her study, Rachel Werner, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine and researcher with the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, defined safety-net hospitals predominately by the rate of Medicaid patients seen by the facility. But she acknowledges that the term encompasses much more in general, those hospitals that treat primarily uninsured, vulnerable patient populations.
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As final guidance is hammered out on the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, interim guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the criteria for becoming a patient safety organization (PSO) has allowed the The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to officially designate PSOs.
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There's good news and bad news in a new study just released by the Health Research & Educational Trust, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, and the Boston University Health Policy Institute: Of 470 hospital chief quality officers surveyed, 97% reported that QI activities had a positive effect on patient care outcomes.
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Patient satisfaction is higher at hospitals that embrace technology, according to the 10th Annual Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, which is published by the American Hospital Association.
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The Joint Commission has strongly endorsed recently issued compendium infection prevention guidelines, announcing that the condensed, actionable recommendations may become required as accreditation standards by 2010.
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Every employee who gets a flu shot at McLeod Health in Florence, SC, walks away with a $20 bill. Yes, you heard that right. Twenty bucks for rolling up their sleeve and getting the vaccine that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Joint Commission, and others say will help prevent the spread of flu to vulnerable patients.
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"Hello. I'm Dr. John Jernigan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your doctor has chosen to admit you to this facility because you need high-quality medical care. The health care providers here want to do everything they can to help you get well and to avoid complications.
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Sometimes the routine becomes routinely ignored. That is what had happened at North General Hospital in New York City with annual health assessments.
