medicare beneficiaries news from FierceHealthcare
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Bill aims to cut hospital readmission rates
A Senator from Colorado has introduced a bill intended to cut down on hospital readmission rates by improving after-hospitalization care and follow-up Medicare patients receive. The Medicare Care... Read more...
Specialty biotech drugs prices rising
Biotech drugs, treating conditions like cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, are already mind-bogglingly expensive, with some hitting $100,000 per year. As if that wasn't enough, now research suggests... Read more...
Case study: How TN physicians are changing their practice
With Medicare cuts looming, many physicians vowed that they'd stop accepting Medicare patients entirely if and when the cuts went through. The thing is, even though Medicare cuts have been held off,... Read more...
Four FL providers charged with $110M HIV infusion fraud
A group of four people associated with an allegedly corrupt chain of HIV infusion clinics have been arrested and charged with a $110 million fraud scheme. An indictment from the U.S. Attorney's... Read more...
$300M grant from RWJF intended to reduce health disparities
Today the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is expected to announce a $300 million initiative designed to reduce significant regional and ethnic care disparities across the U.S.--and ultimately, if... Read more...
Study: Medicare quality perceptions similar despite spending
Despite regional variations in spending, Medicare beneficiaries perceived themselves as receiving a similar quality of care, according to a new study. Researchers looking at per capita Medicare... Read more...
Medicare increases preventive care, screening coverage
It's well documented that preventive care has significant wellness benefits, not to mention cost-saving advantages. However, at present, less than 10 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are getting all... Read more...
Feds consider restructuring Medicare quality program
Two U.S. Senators have introduced legislation intended to tighten up the $400 million program responsible for providing Medicare technical assistance. The Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) was... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: Medicare patients can't get drugs for off-label uses
In theory, physicians have every right to prescribe an off-label use for medications. However, as it turns out, Medicare beneficiaries can't always take advantage of this strategy. Under a recent CMS... Read more...
CMS seeks rural hospitals for gainsharing program
CMS has begun recruiting rural hospitals for a demonstration project which will examine the impact of gainsharing projects on such hospitals. (Gainsharing refers to programs under which hospitals pay physicians a share of any savings generated by mutual quality and efficiency-improvement efforts.) Under the gainsharing program, the hospitals will be asked to provide their own measures of whether they've managed to improve quality and efficiency of care for Medicare beneficiaries. The …
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