Patient Outcomes

Does Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Exacerbate Racial Care Disparities?

January 9, 2024 - Thirty-day mortality rates were higher for acute myocardial infarction and pneumonia at hospitals with higher shares of Black patients, suggesting that Medicare’s Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program may exacerbate racial care disparities. Black adults in the United States tend to face worse health outcomes for acute medical...

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HPSA Program Did Not Affect Physician Shortages or Health Outcomes

by Victoria Bailey

Although health professional shortage area (HPSA) designations aim to improve access to care by alleviating staffing challenges, a Health Affairs study found that most HPSA counties remained physician...

Value-Based Payments in Medicaid Tied to More Behavioral Health Visits

by Victoria Bailey

Medicaid value-based payment reform was associated with an increase in behavioral health visits for patients with mental health conditions, a study published in JAMA Health Forum found. As of 2020, 12...

US Sees Highest Healthcare Spending But Worst Health Outcomes

by Victoria Bailey

Despite spending the most on healthcare, the United States has the worst health outcomes among high-income countries, including the lowest life expectancy at birth and the highest rate of people with...

Higher Surgical Volume Led to Better Patient Outcomes, Lower Costs

by Victoria Bailey

Orthopedic surgeons with higher surgical volume generated better patient outcomes and lower costs for hip and knee replacements, according to data from the healthcare analytics platform Clarify...

Nurse Practitioners Have Lower Productivity than Physicians, Study Finds

by Victoria Bailey

Nurse practitioners (NPs) use more medical resources but achieve worse patient health outcomes compared to physicians, highlighting the productivity variations between the two professions, according to...

AHA: Delayed Discharges Led to 19% Increase in Patient Length of Stay

by Victoria Bailey

The average patient length of stay in hospitals has increased by 19.2 percent in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to an issue brief from the American Hospital Association...

Home-Based Cardiac Care Led to Fewer Subsequent Hospitalizations

by Victoria Bailey

Home-based cardiac care led to fewer hospitalizations and better clinical outcomes for patients compared to care received in a hospital setting, according to a study published in JAMA Network...

CMS Releases Quality Measure Set to Improve Home, Community-Based Care

by Victoria Bailey

CMS has released a quality measure set for home- and community-based services (HCBS), aiming to promote consistent quality measurement and data collection in the Medicaid HCBS program and improve...

Increase in Healthcare Spending Yielded Better Health Outcomes

by Victoria Bailey

Overall, the increase in healthcare spending in the US between 1996 and 2016 led to improved health outcomes, but healthcare spending effectiveness varied across the top 34 causes with high spending or...

Specialty-Oriented ACO Improved Outcomes, Spending for ESRD Patients

by Victoria Bailey

The Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Care (CEC) Model reduced Medicare payments and hospitalizations among beneficiaries with ESRD, suggesting that specialty-oriented accountable care...

Clinical Waste Accounts for Up to 15% of All Healthcare Spending

by Victoria Bailey

Clinical waste, including failures of care delivery, failures of care coordination, and overtreatment, accounts for up to 15.7 percent of all healthcare spending in the United States, according to a...

High Registered Nurse Staffing Levels Tied to Lower Mortality Rates

by Victoria Bailey

A higher registered nurse staffing level was associated with a lower mortality rate among Medicare beneficiaries admitted to an acute care hospital with sepsis, a study published in JAMA Health Forum...

AHA Calls for Oversight of Pharmacy Benefit Manager Practices

by Victoria Bailey

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to increase its surveillance of commercial health plan and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices that steer...

Lack of Prior Authorization Reform Escalating Physician Burden

by Victoria Bailey

Prior authorization continues to increase administrative burden for physicians and impede continuity of patient care as health plans are not following their commitment to advance prior authorization...

Shared Savings in Value-Based Payment Models Produce More Incentives

by Victoria Bailey

Value-based payment models that shared five-year expected savings offered stronger incentives for clinicians to implement preventive interventions for postpartum depression compared to models that...

Value-Based Payment Models Associated with Lower Acute Care Use

by Victoria Bailey

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries whose primary care organization participated in a value-based payment model saw lower rates of hospitalizations, observation stays, and emergency department visits,...

Collective Reform Program Participation Did Not Improve Health Outcomes

by Victoria Bailey

Collective participation in delivery system and payment reform programs, including accountable care organizations (ACOs), was not generally associated with improved health services outcomes in primary...

AMA: Prior Authorization Creates Physician Burden, Patient Care Delays

by Victoria Bailey

Prior authorization negatively impacted patients and providers alike by leading to care delays for patients and creating administrative burden for physicians, according to a survey from the American...

Patient-Driven Payment Linked to a Decrease in SNF Therapy Utilization

by Sarai Rodriguez

The implementation of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) was associated with a decrease in the volume of rehabilitation therapy utilization, according to a study published in JAMA...

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