providers
Study finds CT early Medicaid expansion reduced hospital uncompensated care
A new study published in this month’s Health Affairs finds that CT hospital Medicaid revenue grew by 7 to 8% after CT took advantage of the ACA’s early Medicaid expansion option in 2010. The study also finds that uncompensated care costs to CT hospitals were one third lower than they would have been without the…
Read MoreNew tool allows comparison of local surgeons’ safety record
Patients considering surgery often check their hospitals’ quality rating, but the your surgeon’s safety rating can be even more important. Half of US hospitals have surgeons with both high and low complication rates. ProPublica’s new Surgeon Scorecard allows patients to compare the safety record of surgeons by hospital. ProPublica used Medicare data to calculate surgeon’s…
Read MoreJuly web quiz on CT hospital quality
Test your knowledge of Connecticut hospital quality. Take the July CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreWhere We Live – Hospital CEO pay: How much is too much?
Last year, CT’s hospital CEOs averaged over $1million in compensation. Yesterday’s Where We Live focused on those salaries and the disconnect with quality of care. The lowest paid CEO in CT – at New Milford Hospital – runs the only CT hospital not penalized this year by Medicare for having too many patients return within…
Read MoreTen CT hospitals paid over $1 million to an employee last year
Ten CT hospitals paid over $1 million each in total compensation to 19 employees last fiscal year, according to a new DPH report. The lowest paid top employee was at Essent-Sharon (CT’s only for-profit hospital to date) and the highest was at Yale-New Haven topping out at $3.5 million. Sharon Hospital had four millionaires on…
Read MoreUnfortunate SCOTUS decision limits Medicaid provider rights
A decision yesterday by the US Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit decision and ruled that providers do not have the legal right to sue a state Medicaid program under the federal Medicaid act. Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center involved an Idaho clinic suing the state because rates were too low to ensure adequate access…
Read MoreSurgical hospital coming to CT, promises to serve Medicaid
The Hospital for Special Surgery has received approval to open a large outpatient center in Stamford, according to Crain’s New York Business. The New York hospital has a reputation for very high quality and serving wealthy patients. But as a condition of DPH approval, HSS has agreed that 10% of their CT patients will be…
Read MoreSurgical errors in CT hospitals climbed in 2013
A new analysis by C-HIT found that adverse events (serious medical errors) in CT hospitals were up significantly in 2013, more than double the year before. The greatest increases were for foreign objects left in bodies and perforations during surgery. Deaths, serious falls, serious medication errors, and surgeries on the wrong body part all increased…
Read MoreCT hospitals made $597 million profit last year
A new analysis of CT’s 29 acute care hospital finances by C-HIT found that while operating profits were down last year to $333.6 million from $513.6 m last year, overall profits were still $597 million due to an increase in investment and other income. The annual OHCA report found that just under half (48%) of…
Read MoreCT has second highest rate of 2013 hospital Medicare readmission penalties
CT was behind only NJ last year in the percent of hospitals receiving Medicare readmission penalties and the average penalty for CT hospitals more than doubled from 2012. Medicare fines hospitals for patients who return unplanned to the hospital for treatment within 30 days of discharge compared to an expected readmission rate, adjusted for severity…
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