In a blog post, David Blumenthal, MD, and David Squire highlight the recent HHS report that showed improved patient care in hospitals between the period 2010-2013. They attribute the success to an increased understanding of safety issues, improved awareness among patients, and value-based payment models that incentivize performance-based payments.
Fifteen years ago, the landmark Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human estimated that medical errors led to 44,000 to 98,000 deaths each year. Later estimates put those figures even higher.
Because the lion’s share of errors seemed preventable, the report asserted that, “it would be irresponsible to expect anything less than a 50 percent reduction in errors over five years.” Nothing like that occurred. Together, the seemingly intractable flaws of our healthcare system—misaligned incentives, fragmentation, poor information and communication tools, slow-to-change professional training regimes—prevented the kind of effective national assault on medical errors that the American public deserved.
Link to the blog post on The Commonwealth Fund website:
Link to the report by AHRQ: http://1.usa.gov/1xL0fzz
Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
Listen
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
Listen
Homelessness Compounds Hospital Stay Challenges: Study Reveals Prolonged Discharge Struggles
March 28th 2024In this investigation, outcomes of interest were morbidity rate and length of hospital stay or a traumatic injury among a homeless population, and whether age and/or injury severity had an influence on that relationship—with implications for improving the discharge process for these patients.
Read More
FDA Approves Vadadustat for Anemia in Patients With CKD Undergoing Dialysis
March 28th 2024The FDA approved vadadustat (Vafseo), an oral medication, to treat anemia in adult patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis for at least 3 months. This fills a need for a new treatment option as anemia is common in these patients and can significantly impact their quality of life.
Read More