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In response to comments from healthcare professionals, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made significant changes to the final rule for the creation of accountable care organizations (ACOs), which encourage providers to better coordinate care across all settings.
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When it's typical for patients to wait four hours or more to see an emergency physician, and your leave-without-being-seen (LWBS) rate is pushing 10%, you know it's time to rethink the whole process.
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One survey every three years is trying enough. But for Novant Health's Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, NC, that would have seemed like a vacation. Between June and August of this year, the hospital had a Joint Commission survey, a CMS survey, and the regular biannual visit from the local health department.
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Grena Porto, a principal consultant with QRS Healthcare Consulting in Delaware, has made a career out of advocating for patient safety and improved quality. It should not have surprised some people, then, when she posted on a patient listserv all the reasons why she believes peer review doesn't work and detailed a number of cases to illustrate why.
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Imagine the ongoing dismay of a high school math teacher who year in and year out has to teach students how to do the problems the right way, and year in and year out sees the same mistakes over and over again.
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The final rule related to recovery audit contractors (RACs) for Medicaid was released in mid-September (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-09-16/pdf/2011-23695.pdf), just over three months before it goes into effect. It provides a variety of guidance and opt-outs for states that have many compliance experts scratching their heads.
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Being accredited by The Joint Commission makes a difference in outcomes for patients with certain diagnoses, according to a study in the October issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
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They come from 45 states, represent 14% of Joint Commission-accredited hospitals, and are the first class of hospitals to be recognized as top performers in the commission's annual report.
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The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) honored several people in September for their efforts to improve quality and safety in healthcare.
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Patients at the Women's Hospital of Greensboro (NC) might have multiple visits during their pregnancies, which allows registrars to create an ongoing relationship, says Donald B. Conrad, patient access supervisor.
