Healthcare News of Note: Medicare would save $8 billion a year if all hospitals achieved the outcomes of the most cost-efficient performers, says Lown Institute
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: America’s most cost-effective hospitals are identified, employers have boosted telemedicine and mental health benefits during the pandemic, and risk-based Medicare Advantage models gain popularity with health systems.
CMS finalizes vaccination requirements for hospitals and most other healthcare settings
If hospital staff aren’t fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, their organization will be deemed noncompliant with Medicare and Medicaid regulations, according to a new rule handed down Thursday by CMS.
Medicare’s 2022 payment rule for physician services adds to a significant impending cut
CMS used the 2022 final rule for Medicare physician payments to offer accommodations on policies related to telehealth and more, but concerns loom about a large cut that's in the offing.
CMS finalizes changes to the price transparency penalty, inpatient-only list and more for 2022
Medicare policies affecting price transparency, the inpatient-only list and more will take effect Jan. 1 after CMS published its 2022 final rule for hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers.
Market disruption: How 4 healthcare leaders are dealing with it in their own organizations
This roundtable reviews disruptors and how some healthcare leaders deal with new entrants to the market, telehealth and the trend of care shifting to a nonhospital environment.
Additional requirements are needed to make healthcare price transparency worthwhile, report states
Updates to price transparency regulations should address compliance and formatting and incorporate new data elements.
Payment approaches to addressing health equity are seen in a new Medicare rule for kidney care
Updates to a Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation care model for end-stage renal disease include an equity-related bonus payment and associated changes to benchmarking.
The impact of COVID-19 further shows the need to modify federal pay-for-performance models, hospital advocate says
Quality measures derived during the COVID-19 pandemic are not an accurate gauge of hospital performance in federal programs such as Value-Based Purchasing.
The Provider Relief Fund distribution formula may have left some higher-need hospitals at a disadvantage, study finds
Critical access hospitals generally received lower allocations from a targeted distribution pool compared with hospitals that had a better asset mix.
The Medicare area wage index likely needs a revamp, MedPAC members say
Wage index adjustments leave some hospitals at a disadvantage and are costly for the Medicare program, according to policy advisers.