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Posted on 09/30/2012 4:20:05 PM PDT by Red Steel
WASHINGTON (AP) — If you or an elderly relative have been hospitalized recently and noticed extra attention when the time came to be discharged, there's more to it than good customer service.
As of Monday, Medicare will start fining hospitals that have too many patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge due to complications. The penalties are part of a broader push under President Barack Obama's health care law to improve quality while also trying to save taxpayers money.
About two-thirds of the hospitals serving Medicare patients, or some 2,200 facilities, will be hit with penalties averaging around $125,000 per facility this coming year, according to government estimates.
Data to assess the penalties have been collected and crunched, and Medicare has shared the results with individual hospitals. Medicare plans to post details online later in October, and people can look up how their community hospitals performed by using the agency's "Hospital Compare" website.
It adds up to a new way of doing business for hospitals,
Still, industry officials say they have misgivings about being held liable for circumstances beyond their control. They also complain that facilities serving low-income people, including many major teaching hospitals, are much more likely to be fined, raising questions of fairness.
"Readmissions are partially within the control of the hospital and partially within the control of others," Foster said.
-snip-
Under the health care law, the penalties gradually will rise until 3 percent of Medicare payments to hospitals are at risk. Medicare is considering holding hospitals accountable on four more measures: joint replacements, stenting, heart bypass and treatment of stroke.
-snip-
Under Obama's health care overhaul, Medicare is pursuing efforts to try to improve quality and lower costs. They include rewarding hospitals for quality results, and encouraging hospitals, nursing homes and medical practice groups to join
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Ok, so a person has surgery for whatever reason developed an infection which needs to be treated by say an addition surgery - the hospital gets fined?
This is insane.
WHat a nightmare
It’s not clear why people get readmitted to hospital
They are going to start denying Medicare patients to go back to a hospital.
within 30 days.
They will die on the street.
Bump
idiots.
there will be either a way to pass the fee along to the individual [”re-admit fee”?]
or
there will be people who suffer while they wait the requisite 30 days to be readmitted. I hope they don’t die.
This is indeed a nightmare.
What will happen is hospitals will keep patients longer than necessary, just to make sure they wont come back or send them to a different hospital.
Once the contaminated finger of government touches anything, the “ROT” begins.
So either people will not be readmitted, and possibly worsen or die...or nervous hospitals will have them stay a lot longer than would reasonably be necessary (although the government has rules about that too).
Either way, the costs (on lives of actual human beings or on the nation’s wallet) will rise. Why not just let doctors do what is best? Oh, right. The government is in charge now.
Ask the British what they think of their government run healthcare. The horror stories are legion. But liberals salivate for it. They are the Party of Death, after all.
The list, Ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
GOVERNMENT RUN HOSPITALS???
FOR OLD PEOPLE ONLY???
"How come there's a funny smell in my shower?", asked the little old lady.
Didn’t Dear Reader complain about extra tests and unneccessary procedures when he was running for the Presidency in 2008?
So, how do you LOWER costs by DEMANDING that hospitals make NO mistakes for fear of additional fines and fees?
Liberalism IS a mental disease!!
Only physicians can admit and discharge a patient. Are they going to be fined for the readmission, too? Nope. Didn’t think so. Until there are financial penalties & rewards that affect the way a doctor’s patients are treated/not treated, the hospitals are just the easy pawn in all of this. Now if a patient develops a problem caused by the hospital staff that results in a readmission, that’s a different story. What about non-compliant patients who don’t do what they’re supposed to do when they get home?
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is going drive up the cost in more ways than one.
What is even worse as that someone is going to pay for these fines. And that someone will be other patients.
“there will be people who suffer while they wait the requisite 30 days to be readmitted. I hope they don’t die.”
Thats probably part of the plan.
Insanity? The fine would be assessed even IF the patient is non-compliant with treatment AFTER leaving the hospital.
It is going to be a nightmare.
Then if they don't convalesce back to self care and independent living, suffer infections or complications, and they need to come back- will the doctors stack them in the corridors as non admissions under observation?
Who pays “hospital fines” anyway?
Why you, the patient, whose costs are again increased in fees to cover govt mandates. MEDICARE patient reimbursement by the gubmint is at dimes on the dollar for care as it is.
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