quality
CT hospitals safety rankings lower than surrounding states
New rankings of hospital safety by the Leapfrog Group outline sharp differences between CT’s hospitals. St. Francis and Backus earned an A grade. However Charlotte Hungerford received a D and Windham received an F. CT hospitals underperformed compared to surrounding states. MA and RI have no hospitals with D or F grades. 70% of MA…
Read MoreWebinar posted: Measuring quality and value at Crystal Run ACO
Video and slides from yesterday’s webinar with Crystal Run ACO have been posted. There are important lessons for CT policymakers implementing shared savings payment models. Crystal Run was one of the first Medicare shared saving ACOs and is one of seven NCQA certified ACOs. Hear the physician leaders explain how they monitor the quality of…
Read MoreMedicaid update
Yesterday’s Medicaid Council focused on improving enrollment and quality performance in the program. From the new ConneCT Dashboard we learned that there is no longer a backlog of enrollment documents waiting to be scanned into the system, that waiting times for the call center are down from 75 to 39 minutes, but that the hours…
Read MoreUnderservice committee starts work
Yesterday’s first meeting of the MAPOC Complex Care Committee underservice workgroup was very productive. (We need a shorter name). The committee is charged with designing a framework for monitoring under service in CT’s plan for health neighborhoods to cover people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Advocates have raised concerns that a shared savings payment…
Read MoreDense breast tissue screening consumer guide available
I don’t believe CEPAC has addressed as sensitive an issue as supplemental screening for dense breast tissue. We heard very moving public testimony from survivors and advocates at the December meeting. About half of women have dense breast tissue and face the questions of determining their risks, whether to have supplemental screening, and if so,…
Read MoreMarch CT Health Policy Webquiz: CT health care quality
Test your knowledge about the quality of health care in CT. Take the March CT Health Policy Webquiz.
Read MoreCSG/ERC annual meeting highlights
This year’s CSG/ERC annual meeting in Puerto Rico this month included several health panels and meetings. The first was an initial report on Value over Volume 2.0, an update on our first report from 2009 on payment reform for state/provincial/territorial policymakers with tools to both improve quality and control costs. An ACA Roundtable generated a…
Read MoreCEPAC meeting on dense breast tissue screening
This month’s CEPACmeeting focused on that status of comparative effectiveness research on supplemental cancer screening for women with dense breast tissue. 40% of women have dense tissue, both raising the risk of cancer and the chances that a lump will be masked on a routine mammogram. CT is the only state that both requires notification…
Read MoreCT hospital ER waits longer than US average
Average waits at CT hospital emergency departments vary from 82 minutes at Hartford Hospital to 14 minutes at Windom Hospital, according to a new analysis by the CT Health I-Team. CT’s average wait time is 30 minutes; the national average is 28 minutes. While CT hospitals are implementing quality improvements, experts expect wait times to…
Read MoreSIM proposal draft – no commitment to deny payment to providers who deny care
During yesterday’s meeting, SIM leaders posted their first draft online of the administration’s plan to reform health care in CT. SIM is designed to radically transform how health care is delivered and paid for in our state across all payers – Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, self-insured employers, individuals and small businesses. Despite earlier encouraging conversations,…
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