Using financial penalties to reduce hospital readmissions has been linked to a significant rise in post-discharge mortality for patients with heart failure and pneumonia, according to a recent study by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Average hospital costs and mortality rates are significantly higher for patients diagnosed with sepsis after hospital admission when compared with patients diagnosed prior to admission, according to a retrospective analysis recently published in Critical Care Medicine.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has been conducting a series of studies about adverse events in various healthcare settings since 2008 and will be publishing more of its corresponding reports throughout 2019, the OIG said in a statement.
A preliminary study found that a new point-of-care troponin assay safely ruled out acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a large proportion of patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome, according to the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
CMS and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) claims to have identified unspecified upcoding in hospital billing—either accidentally or intentionally reporting higher severity codes than supported by documentation to increase payment. Because of this, these entities will conduct a two-part study to assess inpatient hospital billing, according to the OIG.
Among patients ages 65 years and older, the rate of opioid-related hospitalizations increased more than the rate of nonopioid-related hospitalizations between 2010 and 2015, according to the recent statistical brief published by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.
A new risk model provides a simple way to determine whether acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients are at a high risk for hospital readmissions, says a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The rate of most hospital-acquired conditions (HAC) continued to decline from 2014 to 2016, according to the latest national scorecard released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Acute heart failure patients in an emergency department's clinical pathway program had a 13.1% lower readmission rate, according to a report published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Early readmissions were more likely to be preventable and amenable to hospital-based interventions, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The European Heart Journal recently published the fourth universal definition of myocardial infarction (MI). The newest definition, which supersedes all previous versions, includes new and updated clinical concepts as well as new sections of guidance.
CMS recently released the fiscal year (FY) 2019 IPPS final rule with significant reductions to reporting requirements for quality initiatives, updates to payment rates, changes to CC/MCC designations, and revisions to various MS-DRGs.
CMS and the National Center for Health Statistics recently released the 2019 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. Changes include clarification on the usage of “with,” updated sepsis guidance, and added guidelines for subsequent myocardial infarction.
In June, an article detailing the upcoming release of the fourth edition of the universal definition of myocardial infarction (MI) was published in the American Journal of Medicine .
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign recently released a 2018 update to guidelines for the care of patients with sepsis. The update includes a new “hour-one bundle” which replaces previous versions of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines.
On June 18, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a version of the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). ICD-11 reflects critical advances in science and medicine and is the first code set revision to be well integrated with electronic health applications and information systems, WHO says.
CMS has released the FY 2019 ICD-10-PCS code updates and accompanying coding guidelines. The number of ICD-10-PCS codes for 2019 will total 78,881, in comparison to the 78,705 available for FY 2018.
The fiscal year (FY) 2019 IPPS proposed rule includes updates to payment rates and quality initiatives, but some of the most extensive changes pertain to MCC and CC additions and deletions.
CMS released the fiscal year (FY) 2019 IPPS proposed rule on Tuesday, April 24, with significant reductions to reporting requirements for quality initiatives and expected ICD-10-CM/PCS code and MS-DRG updates.
Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria has a greater sensitivity than quick sepsis-related organ failure assessment (qSOFA) as a screening test to initiate treatment for sepsis in non-intensive care unit patients, according to the recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.