quality
December web quiz: CT Medicaid quality
Test your knowledge about the improvements in quality of care in Connecticut’s Medicaid program. Take the December CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreMedicaid update: New data on high-cost, high-need members
Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on CT’s participation in a national technical assistance program to identify and meet the needs of high-cost, high-need patients. This population has received a great deal of attention from policymakers as the best opportunity to both improve access and quality of care as well as control costs. The concept offers…
Read MoreCT tied for fifth among states in health system performance
CT’s health system performs better than 45 other states according to the 2015 Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard on State Health System Performance. We improved on eight metrics, but lost ground on four. States are ranked on 42 indicators such as avoidable hospitalizations, health risk behaviors, childhood vaccinations, and hospital patients discharged with information to…
Read More25 CT hospitals decline to respond to Leapfrog quality survey
Only five CT hospitals reported quality and patient safety data to the Leapfrog Group this year – Bristol, Backus, Dempsey, Stamford and Windham hospitals. The hospitals that did report performed very well in general. Released this morning, the 2015 Leapfrog survey covers nineteen areas including maternity care, high risk surgeries, hospital acquired conditions and resource…
Read MoreAdvocates support SIM underservice, cherry picking protections
Connecticut’s SIM plan acknowledges that risks of inappropriate under-treatment and cherry-picking are higher in new shared savings payment models. Advocates were successful in getting a provision included in the SIM final plan that prohibits payment of shared savings to provider networks that systematically deny needed care or cherry pick patients to generate those savings. The…
Read MoreSeptember web quiz on Medicare hospital readmissions in Connecticut
Test your knowledge of Medicare hospital readmissions in Connecticut. Take the September CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreCT still lags most states in Medicare hospital readmission rates
According to Kaiser Health News, ninety percent of CT’s acute care hospitals will be assessed a penalty by Medicare because of high readmission rates, starting October 1st. 54% of US hospitals will be penalized this year for the percent of Medicare patients with certain conditions who return to the hospital within 30 days, down slightly…
Read MoreAdvocates’ guide to underservice recommendations
Connecticut’s State Innovation Model (SIM) is seeking to radically transform our state’s $30 billion health system by aligning incentives to build value. SIM has chosen a shared savings payment model for those reforms. Advocates are concerned about incentives to deny necessary care under the new payment model, as happened in the past. SIM’s Equity and…
Read MoreAdvocates’ guide to underservice recommendations
SIM is seeking to radically transform our state’s $30 billion health system and has chosen a shared savings payment model for those reforms. Advocates are concerned about incentives to deny necessary care under the new payment model, as happened in the past. SIM’s Equity and Access Council was charged with developing protections to limit and…
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…
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