Medicare fines over hospitals' readmitted patients

Google AP ^ | Sept 30, 2012 | RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

[Vendome]

I think it is different from hospital to hospital. But, I have specific documents that detail how palliative care works, what the effects of profit are(nothing wrong with that) and what the primary physicians role is.

There are metrics at O’Conner Hospital, in San Jose, that primary physicians are urged to adhere to.

They are encouraged to have older patients accept palliative care and those firms are partners with the hospital and share in the profitability.

One study, I recall but can’t find right now, suggessted that for every $5,000 billed for in home services, by the hospitals partners, they would realize $700 dollars in new revenue with the effect of reducing census beds, mitigating risks of litigation, etc.

So for pushing the patient to accept strictly palliative care the hospital gets $700 in new revenue. If the care results in 24x7 supervision, before any dressings or intravenous hydration, the revenue stream goes up.

the thing is there was nothing wrong with my friend, Stella. She could eat, drink and do just about anything as well as you or I.

She didn’t have fixed dementia, it was situational and usually brought on by UTI, dehydration or loss of blood due to her ulcers.

Additionally, we already had staff 24 hours a day, in addition to a chiropractor and his wife who has experience in trauma and Premi.

We also had another nurse who could check her to make sure everything was fine and administer whatever was needed that we could not do.

Finally, there were other professionals who were always willing to see Stella in a moments notice including her Orthopedic Surgeon, his business partner and few other doctors who were friends including one of the top Cardiovascular surgeons.

We were never without help.

Stella had no ailment that was going to lead to a predicatble death timeline or pattern.

She was fine and could write for hours, letters to loved ones and friends. No shakes! Beautiful hand writing. She loved to brag that she took the Palmer method of writing.

In fact, three weeks before her death she took an entire afternoon to write letters to family.

My point being, is that I know that palliative care is for someone who is dying from something that cannot be resolved medically and they need to cared for with dignity and their leaving be done with honor and ease.

That’s why I started looking up Palliative Care and the effects on profitability, because it made no sense in Stella’s instance.

Hell, they would give her an antibiotic and rehydrate her for a UTI and we’d take a trip somewhere.

Same thing when she would lose blood from the ulcers. They’d pump her full and she would want to go some where else.

Fortunately her daughter was able to provide for anything that Medicare didn’t which included 24x7 care and all the people above.

So She had a great quality of life and was able to live in her home with all her great memories and pass in her bed.

Healthcare from a qualitative and quantitative viewpoint are different from state to state.

I recall the level of care in Delaware and Manhattan having very different feels for what they prioritized.

Thanks for reading my long rambling reply. Don’t know why I wrote so long except that I am recovering from rotator cuff surgery and my dear buddy caused it two months before she passed and I am trying to type as much as I can but, dang if it doesn’t hurt to hold my arm in this position.

This too shall pass.

Thank you for your response and have a great week.

OH, and just reading the last part of

[Pining_4_TX]

This is another case of government attempting to fix a problem that government caused in the first place. Since doctors and hospitals are not paid enough to treat Medicare patients, the result is more patients hurried through the system, shorter stays, and more mistakes that lead to more infections. As a perverse incentive, hospitals were paid more if the patient had to be re-admitted to the hospital for an infection or other complication.

In order to “fix” this mess, government is now attempting to reduce the number of infections and complications by refusing to pay for the mistakes that were caused by government being in charge in the first place. The only real solution is to get government out of health care and insurance and let the market work. Unfortunately, Americans seem to believe that government is always the answer and won’t give up on the idea of Uncle Sam taking care of everyone.

[grumpygresh]

“I think it will degenerate to a 2 tiered system. The Cleveland Clinic model for the oligarchy and a medicaid system for the rest of us.”

I can say that I would never work for the oligarchs because the temptation to screw up would be too great.

[aberaussie]

A poster on my political FB page (Katie’s Political Page if you would like to follow it) tells a story where that actually did happen. A grandmother was discharged from the hospital, went back within two weeks with the same symptoms (congestive heart failure tends to reoccur) and the doctor, under pressure from the hospital to not readmit her, sends her home with a prescription for Lasix. She dies and the dr. gets sued.... I guess there will be a law to prevent lawsuits over wrongful deaths of the elderly.

[Pork N. Beans]

My dying husband was evicted from the hospital because he’d been there too long. Doctor wouldn’t sign for hospice cause he thought more could be done. Got him home, he fell twice, ambulance had to take him back. He died shortly thereafter.

Now my mother has been denied doctor-prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection, because she’s “too old”. She’s in good health and we’re trying to keep it that way. Obama and all leftists are evil.