quality
CT Medicaid only state to earn A+ for access to HepC drugs
A new report finds that CT’s Medicaid program leads the US in access to new Hepatitis C medications. Hepatitis C affects 3.5 million Americans and causes more deaths than any other infectious disease. CT Medicaid imposes no liver damage, sobriety or prescriber restrictions to HepC drug access that are common in other states. The report…
Read MoreCT News Junkie Op-Ed: Is overtreatment really a thing?
There is a growing consensus in health policy circles that overtreatment is the source of all problems in our health care system. Like most common beliefs, there is some truth to it. For example, clinical research is clear that stents inserted into the arteries of people not having a heart attack do nothing to prevent…
Read MoreCMS finalizes important patient-friendly informed consent payment proposal
CMS has finalized their proposed Medicare rule (regulation) for how hospitals are paid that includes a new measure assessing the quality of hospital informed consent documents given to patients before elective procedures. (The relevant section, Potential Inclusion of the Quality of Informed Consent Documents for Hospital-Performed, Elective Procedures Measure starts hereon p. 373 of the…
Read MoreDPH launches website comparing CT quality and cost of hospital and nursing home care
Last week, CT’s Department of Public Health unveiled MONAHRQ, a web tool allowing consumers and other health care decision-makers to compare the quality, outcomes, utilization and costs of health care in our state. For example, Only three of CT’s 24 general hospitals are above average in patient ratings – Greenwich, Middlesex and Milford. Sadly, most…
Read MoreQuality challenges remain in CT Medicaid PCMHs
Also at Friday’s meeting, DSS reported on a selection of quality results from 2015, highlighting concerns. The results compared quality measures for patients receiving care from private practice and community health center Patient-Centered Medical Homes. In other programs, PCMHs have improved quality performance over non-PCMH practices. There remains a lot of room for improvement. Only…
Read MoreNew state health comparison tool shows challenges and opportunities for CT
In good news, CT is 11th best among states in the number of people who had no trouble finding a doctor in 2015 according to State Health Compare. But CT is also 17th worst among states in the percent of residents with high medical cost burdens. Depending on how you look at it, it may…
Read MoreAdvocates ask DSS yet again for a robust evaluation of risky experiment before expanding
Twenty-three independent advocates sent a letter today again urging the state to conduct common sense evaluation of the first wave of a risky new program before expanding the program, as promised. Advocates have learned that the planned evaluation will not be available until 2 months after the RFP for the second wave is finalized and released. In addition, current…
Read MoreCT hospital Medicare hospital-acquired condition penalties much higher than US average for third year in a row
Next year fourteen of Connecticut’s 31 hospitals will be penalized by Medicare for poor rates of potentially avoidable complications, according to an analysis by Kaiser Health News. While this is down from eighteen this year, it is almost three times higher than the US average. Seven Connecticut hospitals have been penalized under this program every…
Read MoreICD-10 holiday fun from STAT News
Holiday humor from STAT News includes a piece outlining ICD-10 medical codes for typical holiday health problems. If you’re looking for them, STAT has the codes for holiday injuries (contact with electric knife, struck by turkey), stress of waiting for Santa (behavioral insomnia of childhood, encounter for examination of eyes and vision with abnormal findings),…
Read MoreSeptember webquiz — C section rates in CT
Test your knowledge of C-Section rates in CT. Take the September CT Health Policy Webquiz.
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