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Small Bowel Block in Elderly Merits Full Hospitalization
July 28, 2015
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The "vast majority" of elderly patients admitted with small bowel obstruction (SBO) are hospitalized for more than two days, and the diagnosis alone should allow appropriate Medicare coverage, according to a new study.
In a paper online July 1 in Annals o
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PHM15: A Closer Look at Quality Indicators, Evaluation Tools
- Francisco Alvarez, MD, FAAP
July 24, 2015
Session: Let’s Measure Our Own Performance: Propose and Evaluate Pediatric Hospital Medicine Quality Indicators
Summary: During this workshop, a staff of multiple, nationally-recognized quality leaders led a group to review, help develop, and help validate quality measures.
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CMS Proposes Changes to Two-Midnight Rule
July 14, 2015
On July 1, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced proposed changes to its controversial two-midnight rule.
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Medicare Initiatives Improve Hospital Care, Patient Safety
- MHM;
- Patrick Conway, MD, MSc
July 6, 2015
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As a hospitalist myself, I have seen firsthand the need for a healthcare system that provides better care, spends dollars more wisely, and keeps people healthier.
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ICD-10 Medical Coding System Likely to Improve Documentation, Reimbursement
July 6, 2015
ICD-10 is the system that will replace ICD-9 for all parties covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). ICD-10 contains a code set used for inpatient procedural reporting and a code set used for diagnosis reporting.
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Post-Acute Patient Care New Frontier for Hospitalists
July 6, 2015
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In spite of all the gadgets and technologies available to hospital-based physicians nowadays, Jerome Wilborn, MD, FCCP, sees a much simpler symbol of patient care. Dr.
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Medicare Rankings Favor Small, For-Profit Hospitals
July 6, 2015
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In April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publicly revealed for the first time which hospitals achieved five stars and which had room for improvement based on patient exper
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SGR Repeal: What It Means for Hospitalists
July 6, 2015
On April 16, President Obama signed into law a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation that not only fully repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) but also permanently eliminated the recurring threat of physician payment cuts in Medicare.
Along with the SGR repeal, the Medicare Access and C
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Hospitalists Back Bill to Reform Medicare Audit Process
June 30, 2015
A bill proposed in Congress to streamline the audit process of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) is being hailed by hospitalists as a needed step forward.
The Audit & Appeal Fairness, Integrity, and Reforms in Medicare (AFIRM) Act of 2015 would speed up the Recovery Audit
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Medical Care Overuse Causes Waste, Harm in Healthcare
June 8, 2015
A trickle of anecdotes has become a flood of cautionary tales.
There’s one about the patient in intensive care who didn’t have a cardiac condition yet still had a troponin blood test on 26 consecutive days.