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As final guidance is hammered out on the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, interim guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the criteria for becoming a patient safety organization (PSO) has allowed the The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to officially designate PSOs.
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For the sake of her study, Rachel Werner, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine and researcher with the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, defined safety-net hospitals predominately by the rate of Medicaid patients seen by the facility. But she acknowledges that the term encompasses much more in general, those hospitals that treat primarily uninsured, vulnerable patient populations.
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In preparation for its unannounced survey with DNV Healthcare, Citizens Medical Center personnel readied their survey preparation box. Last minute documents were pulled when surveyors arrived for the unannounced survey a patient census, the surgery schedule, a list of patients in restraints.
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On Oct. 30, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final 2009 rule for the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS).
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Citing improved efficiency and consistency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun transitioning the handling of hospital claim reviews from quality improvement organizations (QIOs) to fiscal intermediaries (FIs) and Medicare administrative contractors (MACs).
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If you're getting tired of bad news these days, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has some positive news. As it nears the end of its 5 Million Lives Campaign this month, it celebrates this year's successes, and according to IHI Vice President Joe McCannon, those have been plentiful.
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Press Ganey Associates Inc., the South Bend, IN-based patient satisfaction and quality firm, reports that "patient satisfaction leaped" after the launch of public reporting.
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A palliative care program can save hospitals an average of at least $279 per day, up to $374 per day, according to a study of eight hospitals by the Center to Advance Palliative Care and the National Palliative Care Research Center.
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In early October, the American Medical Association in Chicago issued a statement by board member Jeremy Lazarus, MD, regarding Congressional action on mental health care coverage: