Editor's Note: Non-monetary compensation to physicians is limited to no more than $507 for calendar year 2024, according to a report on the federal Stark Law published December 27 in Lexology. The Stark Law applies to non-cash or cash-equivalent payments from hospitals, physician groups, labs and other provider entities. The…
Takeaways • The Joint Commission eliminated 56 redundant or outdated Elements of Performance, revised four others, and is using more checklists. • The Joint Commission is emphasizing healthcare equity and identifies it as a priority to address healthcare quality and safety, calling organizations to integrate health equity into their QAPI…
Editor's Note Health record codes that track social, environmental, and economic influences on patient health outcomes are vastly underutilized during screening, according a December 19 EurekAlert! report on research from John Hopkins and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Published in Health Affairs Scholar, the study analyzes the…
Editor's Note Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) will now receive a 3.1% payment rate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for services, which is an increase of .3% under the original rule, Becker’s ASC Review December 5 reports. This change in payment rate reflects the average of all…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on November 1 announced the release of the 2024 ORYX performance measure reporting requirements, which will be effective starting on January 1, 2024, for critical access hospitals and hospitals. In the new requirements, acute care hospitals and critical access hospitals must join The Joint Commission National…
Editor's Note According to a report by researchers from the University of Virginia Healthcare System, there is a significant gender pay gap in Center for Medical Services (CMS) reimbursements for gastroenterologists, Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News October 19 reports. The findings were reported in this poster presentation as well as first…
Editor’s Note In this luncheon presentation, OR Manager Conference attendees delved into the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Quality Measure Reporting Program for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Gina Throneberry, MBA, RN, CASC, CNOR, director of education and clinical affairs at the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA), shared which quality…
Editor's Note This study, led by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, examines whether Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion among Black, Hispanic, and White patients led to reductions in preventable hospitalizations. Data on census population and hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions from 2010 to…
Editor's Note The Non-Opioids Prevent Addiction in the Nation (NOPAIN) Act, which is set to take effect in 2025, will set up a separate Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) payment for certain nonopioid pain management techniques in outpatient and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) settings, the September 12 Becker’s…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on August 23, announced that updated Accelerate PI Dashboard Reports are available for hospitals, critical access hospitals, and nursing centers. The reports provide performance measurement data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on a select subset of quality measures through the second quarter…