Quality & Patient Safety
A new AHA TrendWatch report calls for refinements in Medicare’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) that achieve the goal of reducing readmissions without unfairly penalizing hospitals.
While hospital readmissions are declining, there are serious questions about how the HRRP assesses penalties that affect the fairness and long-term sustainability of the program.
AHA letter to Representative James Renacci expressing support for H.R. 1343, the Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act of 2015.
Commenting yesterday on proposed criteria for selecting measures to include in a Hospital Compare star rating system, AHA encouraged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to consider using star ratings for specific measure topics (e.g., heart attack care, patient experience) as opposed…
An estimated 453,000 C. difficile cases occurred in 2011, or about 147 per 100,000 people, according to a study reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. While about two-thirds of the cases were healthcare-associated, only 24% emerged while the patient was hospitalized. “According…
Nearly all unplanned readmissions after surgery are associated with new postoperative complications that surface after discharge, according to a study of 346 hospitals participating in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program in 2012, published yesterday…
Every year the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), like many other state, metropolitan and regional hospital associations across the country, releases an annual report that describes the many ways in which its hospitals help build healthier communities. The MHA recently released its 2014…
A new toolkit developed by AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust affiliate for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provides practical, science-based resources to help dialysis centers prevent infections in people with end-stage renal disease. The free toolkit includes educational…