All But One State Cuts Hospital Readmission Rate CMS announced last week that 49 states and the District of Columbia have cut hospital readmission rates for Medicare enrollees since 2010, with nearly a dozen states cutting avoidable readmission rates by more than 10 percent. The agency...

60 Percent of Hospitals Could Have Negative Margins by 2025: CBO According to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that examines hospitals’ potential margins in the face of Medicare cuts and other reimbursement pressures, hospital finances could be significantly impacted. The paper suggests that...

FDA Bans 40 Percent of Antibacterial Soaps The FDA last week banned the sale of soaps containing certain antibacterial chemicals, saying industry had failed to prove they were safe to use over the long term or more effective than using ordinary soap and water. In all...

Medicare ACOs Save $466 Million in 2015 Over 400 Medicare accountable care organizations generated more than $466 million in total program savings in 2015, according to the latest data from CMS. However, Medicare spent $217 million more in bonuses than the ACO program saved.  The data...

Medicare Drug Spending Skyrockets: CMS Report Spending on prescription drugs in Medicare Part D increased 17 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to new data released by CMS. Drug costs in the program grew from $104 billion to $121 billion between 2013 and 2014. The data...

340B Dispute Process Proposed by HRSA The Health Resources and Services Administration issued a proposed rule last week to establish a binding administrative dispute resolution process when drug companies or health care organizations have disagreements over the 340B drug discount program. The process would help resolve...

U.S. News Announces Its 2016-17 Best Hospitals U.S. News released its 27th annual Best Hospitals rankings last week, comparing nearly 5,000 medical centers nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. Here are the top 10: 1) Mayo Clinic, Rochester 2) Cleveland Clinic 3) Massachusetts General Hospital,...

New Bill Would Halt Hospital Star Ratings Program U.S. Reps. Renacci (R-OH) and Rice (D-NY) have introduced a bill to delay for at least one year the hospital star ratings program. The legislation would require CMS to take down the newly published ratings until at least...

New Hospital Star Ratings Summary Released; Specific Ratings Coming “Soon” CMS released a breakdown of the upcoming overall hospital star ratings ahead of the highly anticipated facility-by-facility release. Of the 4,600+ hospitals, 102 hospitals earned five stars, 934 four stars, 1,770 three stars, 723 two stars...

CMS Proposals Make Major Changes to HOPDs, ASCs, Physician Payments CMS last week released proposed rules for Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System and the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for 2017. Under the OPPS Rule is a provision that...