Posts Tagged ‘quality’
Agency For Healthcare Research And Quality News And Numbers: High Cholesterol, Diabetes Lead Drug Spending For The Elderly
Purchases of cholesterol and diabetes prescription drugs by elderly Medicare beneficiaries reached nearly $19 billion in 2007 – about one-fourth of the approximately $82 billion spent for medications for the elderly, according to the latest AHRQ News and Numbers…
Study Says Lower-Cost Hospitals Don’t Have Lower Quality Care For Certain Illnesses
A study Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine found little difference in outcomes between hospitals with longer patient stays and shorter ones, which could make it “possible to lower costs in the U.S. system without hurting patients,” Reuters reports…
Excise Tax Threatens Continued Access To High Quality Health Care
Survivors and patients with cancers and heart disease, along with patient advocate organizations and physicians, are urging policymakers to enhance early diagnosis of deadly diseases by preserving access to advanced imaging, such as MRI and CT scans, in final health care reform legislation.
Marshfield Clinic Saves Medicare Millions While Improving Quality Of Care
Marshfield Clinic has improved the quality of health care it delivers to patients while decreasing health care costs in the third performance year of a five-year Medicare demonstration project, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today. “Marshfield Clinic saw years ago that reform was necessary,” said Theodore A. Praxel, M.D., M.M.M., FACP, medical director, Quality Improvement and Care Management, Marshfield Clinic.
Medicare Demonstrations Show Paying For Quality Health Care Pays Off
Demonstrations being conducted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continue to provide strong evidence that offering financial incentives for improving or delivering high quality care increases quality and can reduce the growth in Medicare expenditures. Today CMS is announcing new results from three of these demonstrations, one for large physician practices, one for small and solo physician practices, and one for hospitals.
Medicare Pilot Project Links Hospital Payments To Quality
Data released examines a pilot project by Medicare that links hospital payments to the quality of care. Wall Street Journal reports the project “has helped prevent infections in pneumonia patients and cut death rates in heart-attack patients. … In the project, hospitals compete for cash incentives from Medicare, the government insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
The utilization of appropriate osteoporosis medications improves following a multifaceted educational intervention: The Canadian Quality Circle Project (CQC).
Background:Osteoporosis is a serious but treatable condition. However, appropriate therapy utilization of the disease remains suboptimal. Thus, the objective of the study was to change physicians’ therapy administration behavior in accordance with the Osteoporosis Canada 2002 guidelines.Methods:The Project was a two year cohort study that consisted of five Quality Circle (QC) phases that included: 1) Training & Baseline Data Collection, 2) First Educational Intervention & First Follow-Up Data Collection 3) First Strategy Implementation Session, 4) Final Educational Intervention & Final Follow-up Data Collection, and 5) Final Strategy Implementation Session. A total of 340 family physicians formed 34 QCs and participated in the study. Physicians evaluated a total of 8376, 7354 and 3673 randomly selected patient charts at baseline, follow-up #1 and the final follow-up, respectively. Patients were divided into three groups; the high-risk, low- risk, and low-risk without fracture groups. The generalized estimating equations technique was utilized to model the change over time of whether physiciansResults:The odds of appropriate therapy was 1.29 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.46), and 1.41 (95% CI: 1.20, 1.66) in the high risk group, 1.15 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.36), and 1.16 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.44) in the low risk group, and 1.20 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.43), and 1.23 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.55) in the low risk group without fractures at follow-up #1 and the final follow-up, respectively.Conclusions:QCs methodology was successful in increasing physicians’ appropriate use of osteoporosis medications in accordance with Osteoporosis Canada guidelines.
New Medicare Nursing Home Guidance To Include Quality Of Life And Environment Requirements
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance for nursing home surveyors, further defining and clarifying several important dimensions of care to help improve nursing home residents’ quality of life and environment.
House Bill To Provide Cancer Patients With Solution For Quality Cancer Care Within An Equitable Medicare Model
U.S. Representatives Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), Steve Israel (D-NY) and Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) have introduced H.R. 2872, the Medicare Quality Cancer Care Demonstration Act of 2009. H.R. 2872 is a bill that will authorize Congress to direct the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement the Quality Cancer Care Demonstration (QCCD) project.
Anxiety And Depression Lower Quality Of Life In Majority Of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients
Ninety-three percent of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus suffer anxiety and depression which significantly affects both their physical and emotional quality of life (QoL), according to the results of a new study. Logistic regression analysis revealed that depression was the most significant factor shown to affect QoL.
Rx Drug Compare
Translator
By N2H