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Safety-net practices in poor areas have lower rates of payment bonuses, shows MIPS performance data

A team of researchers led by Kenton Johnston, Ph.D., an associate professor of health management and policy at Saint Louis University's College for Public Health and Social Justice, conducted a study to investigate how outpatient clinicians that treated disproportionately high caseloads of socially at-risk Medicare patients (safety-net clinicians) performed under Medicare's new mandatory Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)

11 Sep 2020

Hospitals, nursing homes fail to separate COVID patients, putting others at risk

Nurses at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center were on edge as early as March when patients with COVID-19 began to show up in areas of the hospital that were not set aside to care for them.

10 Sep 2020

Patient Safety Movement Foundation urges the creation of a National Patient Safety Board

Today, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation released a detailed white paper and its leadership issued the following statement urging the creation of a National Patient Safety Board.

10 Sep 2020

Study: Generic cholesterol medications save billions of dollars for Medicare

The switch from brand name to generic cholesterol medications that occurred between 2014 and 2018 has saved Medicare billions of dollars, even as the number of people on cholesterol-lowering drugs has increased, UT Southwestern scientists have calculated.

9 Sep 2020

Patient priorities for optimal transplant and living donor advocacy during COVID-19 and beyond

In a newly published paper, the authors first paint the vision of what optimal patient advocacy can do to overcome the challenges described by kidney transplant patients and donors and then describe how to make that vision a reality, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

5 Sep 2020

HHS plan to improve rural health focuses on better broadband, telehealth services

Knowing it may be met with some skepticism, the Trump administration Thursday announced a sweeping plan that officials say will transform health care in rural America.

4 Sep 2020

Study examines the side effects of Alzheimer's disease dementia drugs

In a first of its kind study, a University of Houston researcher is examining two common drugs used for dementia in patients with Alzheimer's disease to determine the extent to which they don't mix well together and cause a cascading event of side effects, prompting the need for even more medications.

3 Sep 2020

Study finds disparities in receipt of home health care after hospital discharge

A study published today by the JAMA Network Open shows that in the period from October 2015 to September 2016 before the Affordable Care Act, a substantial portion of Medicare patients referred to home health care after hospitalization did not receive that care.

2 Sep 2020

Study finds greater Alzheimer's burden in rural Appalachia

Alzheimer's disease is more common in rural Appalachian Ohio communities than in other rural areas in the state - raising concerns about access to early, specialized care in a region where many residents face struggles getting the medical care they need, a new study has found.

2 Sep 2020

Survey shows pandemic will limit access to pediatric eye care

Pediatric ophthalmologists are a rarity in medicine. There are only about a thousand of them to serve America's 75 million children. And as other physicians fled private practice for hospitals or have been gobbled up by private equity firms, most pediatric ophthalmologists remain in private practice.

1 Sep 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ replay: What’s at stake when high court hears ACA case

The "What the Health?" panelists are taking a break for two weeks. But since the Supreme Court recently scheduled arguments in the case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, it seemed like a good opportunity to replay an episode from March, when the law turned 10.

27 Aug 2020

Republican Convention, Day 2: Pomp, the pandemic and planned parenthood

The Republican National Convention offered Americans a picture Tuesday night of a compassionate White House in action. But not a lot was said about the biggest health crisis in a century that has killed more than 170,000 people in this country.

26 Aug 2020

Trump again claims he’s bringing down drug prices, but details of how are skimpy

President Donald Trump has long considered lowering the high cost of prescription drugs to be one of his signature issues, and it is likely to be a talking point he relies on throughout the upcoming campaign.

26 Aug 2020

Prognosis for rural hospitals worsens with pandemic

Jerome Antone said he is one of the lucky ones. After becoming ill with COVID-19, Antone was hospitalized only 65 miles away from his small Alabama town. He is the mayor of Georgiana — population 1,700.

26 Aug 2020

Social isolation linked to future hospital admission and ED utilization

Those over age 65 who self-reported as socially isolated were more likely to have a future hospital admission or emergency room visit. The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal Population Health Management.

25 Aug 2020

Trump is sending fast, cheap COVID tests to nursing homes — but there’s a hitch

The Trump administration's latest effort to use COVID-19 rapid tests — touted by one senior official as a "turning point" in arresting the coronavirus's spread within nursing homes — is running into roadblocks likely to limit how widely they'll be used.

24 Aug 2020

Study: More than 20% of nursing homes in the U.S. still report staff, PPE shortages

Nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States have occurred among nursing home residents, whose age, chronic medical conditions, and congregate living quarters place them and their caregivers at high risk of contracting the disease.

20 Aug 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Democrats in array (for now)

Democrats have shown a remarkably united front, including on health care, in their socially distant, made-for-TV convention this week.

20 Aug 2020

Study reveals important trends in early COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts

Data from the first COVID-19 patients treated at three large Massachusetts hospitals reveal important trends, including disproportionate representation of vulnerable populations, high rates of disease-related complications, and the need for post-discharge, post-acute care and monitoring.

19 Aug 2020

Democratic convention, night 2: Defending the ACA and attacking Trump on pandemic

The second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention featured a 17-person keynote speech, past presidents, a roll call vote that doubled as a virtual tour of the United States and an emphasis on health care and national security issues.

19 Aug 2020

Medicare News and Research

Safety-net practices in poor areas have lower rates of payment bonuses, shows MIPS performance data

Hospitals, nursing homes fail to separate COVID patients, putting others at risk

Patient Safety Movement Foundation urges the creation of a National Patient Safety Board

Study: Generic cholesterol medications save billions of dollars for Medicare

Patient priorities for optimal transplant and living donor advocacy during COVID-19 and beyond

HHS plan to improve rural health focuses on better broadband, telehealth services

Study examines the side effects of Alzheimer's disease dementia drugs

Study finds disparities in receipt of home health care after hospital discharge

Study finds greater Alzheimer's burden in rural Appalachia

Survey shows pandemic will limit access to pediatric eye care

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ replay: What’s at stake when high court hears ACA case

Republican Convention, Day 2: Pomp, the pandemic and planned parenthood

Trump again claims he’s bringing down drug prices, but details of how are skimpy

Prognosis for rural hospitals worsens with pandemic

Social isolation linked to future hospital admission and ED utilization

Trump is sending fast, cheap COVID tests to nursing homes — but there’s a hitch

Study: More than 20% of nursing homes in the U.S. still report staff, PPE shortages

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Democrats in array (for now)

Study reveals important trends in early COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts

Democratic convention, night 2: Defending the ACA and attacking Trump on pandemic

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How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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