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…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on August 9, announced that it is revising a performance measure for the advanced Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement (THKR) Certification Program—THKR-5: Postoperative Functional/Health Status Assessment—to align with a similar Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) measure. The recently adopted CMS performance measure—Hospital-Level,…
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) announced, on July 26, that it and 18 other surgical organizations sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), strongly opposing implementation of its code G2211. The G2211 code is an effort by CMS to pay more for…
Takeaways • Healthcare consumers are not aware that they can ask how much something costs. • There is disconnect between the law and common knowledge, and patients generally are confused about what they receive as good faith estimates. • In addition to incorrect CPT codes and OON allowable charges, the…
Editor's Note On July 13, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposal that would increase Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system rates by a net 2.8% in 2024 compared to 2023, including a “proposed 3% market basket update, offset by a 0.2% cut for productivity,” the…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on July 12, announced that it is making several changes to its critical access hospital (CAH) elements of performance (EPs) to better align with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation, effective August 27, 2023. The changes are part of CMS’…
Editor's Note This study from Harvard Medical School, Boston, and Georgetown University, Washington, DC, finds that hospital compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2021 Price Transparency Rule is increasing since financial penalties were enforced. Data from 4,377 acute care hospitals operating in 2021 and 2022 were…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on June 27, announced that it is starting a new voluntary Health care Equity Certification Program, effective July 1. The advanced certification recognizes hospitals for excellence in their efforts to provide equitable care, treatment, and services and builds on longstanding accreditation requirements that support healthcare…
Editor's Note This study from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary (OACT) estimates that US healthcare spending will grow by 5.4% per year on average from 2022 to 2031, now that the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended. Rising from $4.4 to $7.17 trillion,…
Editor's Note The Joint Commission, on May 31, announced that it has added several new and revised elements of performance (EPs) for critical access hospitals (CAHs) that address restraint and seclusion, the complaint process, and unified and integrated structures for CAHs that are part of a multihospital system, effective June…