Jul 2 2011
A provision of the 2010 health care law that seeks patient feedback on hospital stays goes into effect today. Also, federal officials issued a new rule designed to streamline paperwork requirements for the health care industry.
Dallas Morning News: Patients' Survey Responses Now Determine Hospital Payments
Starting Friday, discharged patients will complete surveys about their hospital stay that will determine whether that hospital receives or loses federal money. The standardized surveys are part of a quality initiative dictated in last year's landmark health care law (Roberson, 6/30).
Modern Healthcare: Rule To Streamline Paperwork Issued
First-ever paperwork-standardization requirements for health insurers aim to save the health care industry $12 billion over the coming decade by allowing greater automation. An interim final rule issued today by HHS specifies the information that insurers must give to health care providers when contacted. The specific data requirements apply to provider inquiries about patient coverage eligibility and the status of submitted health claims (Daly, 6/30).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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