quality
CT hospitals losing ground on social responsibility
Eight Connecticut hospitals received A grades this year for social responsibility from the Lown Institute, down from twelve last year. No Connecticut hospitals were in Lown’s or US News’ top 20 hospitals in the US. Griffin Hospital ranked #157 in Lown’s composite ranking this year among 3606 US hospitals, the best in Connecticut. Last year…
Read MoreMore doctors are moving to corporate and hospital employment, jacking up prices & new WI lawsuit
Movement of physicians from independent practice to hospital and corporate employment accelerated during COVID. By January 1st of this year, 74% of physicians in the Northeast were employed by hospitals or corporations according to a report by Avalere Health for the Physicians Advocacy Institute. Half (52%) of Northeastern physicians work for hospitals and 22% for…
Read MoreBook Club: Think Again
You have to read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant. We all think our minds are open, but we’re wrong. Intelligence is nice, but the critical skills are rethinking, relearning, and the courage to dump baggage. The Dunning-Kruger effect is real – the people with the most confidence…
Read MoreCT hospital ownership change rate among highest in US
Over 10% of hospitals in Connecticut changed ownership between 2016 and 2021, according to a federal report using new CMS data. Connecticut and just three other states had hospital ownership change rates over 10%. Most states had rates of 4% or less. Understanding hospital ownership changes and rates of change to identify consolidation in healthcare…
Read MoreDSS’s new patient survey has little to say
DSS’s consultants reported on the results from their new patient experience/satisfaction survey for PCMH Plus members at this month’s MAPOC Care Management Committee meeting. The survey is important as the experimental PCMH Plus payment model risks inappropriately denying needed care and cherry-picking more lucrative patients. The main result, revealed in answer to a question, is…
Read MoreGood News — Senate passed SB-416 to lower healthcare prices
On Wednesday, the Senate voted 29 to 4 to pass SB-416, An Act Promoting Competition in Contracts Between Health Carriers and Health Providers, without amendments. The bill passed out of the insurance committee unanimously and received overwhelmingly positive feedback in the public hearing. Two lawsuits have been filed against Hartford Healthcare for anti-competitive conduct, driving up…
Read MoreBook Club: The Long Fix
I’ve been avoiding reading The Long Fix: Solving America’s Health Crisis with Strategies that Work for Everyone by Vivian Lee. But this semester, one of my students asked if she could read it for her Book Review assignment. I couldn’t really refuse, so I had to read it too. The author, a physician and healthcare…
Read MoreCTNJ: Fact Check Shows That Raising Primary Care Spending Doesn’t Lower Total Healthcare Costs
The Office of Health Strategy and their consultants have asserted that it is critical to double spending on primary care in Connecticut to lower skyrocketing total healthcare costs. It’s very appealing to think that increasing investments in prevention and care management will reduce total costs. It avoids the difficult work of getting large health systems…
Read MoreLegislators hear diverse voices favoring competition to control healthcare costs
Update 3/22/2022 — SB-416 passed the Insurance and Real Estate Committee unanimously. Twenty-one organizations and state residents testified in favor of SB-416 in Thursday’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee public hearing. Just three testified against. SB-416 would level the playing field in Connecticut’s healthcare market by prohibiting anti-competitive contract clauses used by large health systems…
Read MoreTestimony: Consolidation’s harms to stressed healthcare workers
From Haley Magnetta, fellow at CT Health Policy Project, written testimony in support of SB-417, An Act Promoting Competition in Contracts Between Health Carriers and Health Care Providers I am testifying as a clinically practicing Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant (PA). As a provider who has worked in hospitals that have been consolidated, I want to…
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