Quality & Patient Safety
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will not update the overall hospital quality star ratings on Hospital Compare in July as scheduled due to data issues with three of the measures included in the safety group score, according to a QualityNet notice yesterday. CMS is working to correct鈥
Efforts to reduce hospital readmissions are working, but they don鈥檛 always save money, according to a review of 50 quality improvement studies published yesterday by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Long-term care facilities participating in a federal project led by the AHA鈥檚 Health Research & Educational Trust reduced catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 54%, according to a study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. The project adapted the Agency for Healthcare Research鈥
Does your organization have an innovative palliative and end-of-life care program? If so, consider applying for the 2018 Circle of Life Award.Since 1999, the 鈥淐ircle of Life Award: Celebrating Innovation in End-of-Life Care鈥 has honored shining examples of human compassion 鈥 care that helps people鈥
The 黑料正能量 Association Grassroots Champion Award recognizes those hospital leaders who most effectively educate elected officials on how major issues affect the hospital鈥檚 vital role in the community, who have done an exemplary job in broadening the base of community support for the鈥
Average readmissions penalties in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program doubled in the first five years of the program, from 0.29% in 2013 to 0.6% in 2017, according to a study published today in Health Affairs. 鈥淭he penalty burden was greater in hospitals that were urban, major teaching鈥
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week issued recommendations for diagnosing and managing patients who may be infected with a Shigella strain less susceptible to the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin. Shigella bacteria can cause Shigellosis, a diarrheal disease that should be reported鈥
Safety-net hospitals had larger average penalties than non-safety net hospitals under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program in fiscal year 2013, but that difference had disappeared by 2016, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.