Category: Hospitals
Health Plans For State Employees Use Medicare’s Hammer On Hospital Bills
Some states are moving to control costs by using Medicare reimbursement rates to calibrate how they pay hospitals, triggering alarm in the hospital industry.
Medicare Trims Payments To 800 Hospitals, Citing Patient Safety Incidents
By Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News Eight hundred hospitals will be paid less by Medicare this year because of high rates of infections and patient injuries, federal records show. The number is the highest since the federal government five years…
Single word most associated with negative hospital reviews on Yelp is ‘told’
By Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania When analyzing reviews of hospitals on Yelp, Penn Medicine researchers found that the word most associated with negative reviews, including those rated at one-star, was “told,” which appeared almost 20 percent…
Small hospitals linking to big name centers
For prospective patients, it can be hard to assess what these relationships actually mean — and whether they matter.
Hospital Charge for Fainting Spell: $4,700
Total Bill: $4,692 for all the hospital care, including a $2,961 ER admission fee, a $400 EKG, $348 for a chest X-ray, and nearly $1,000 for blood tests.
Analysis: Pulling Back Curtain On Hospital Prices Adds New Wrinkle In Cost Control
For years, these prices have been a tightly guarded industrial secret. When pressed to release them, hospitals have argued that they are proprietary information.
Hospitals Check To See If Patients Are Donor-Worthy — Not Their Organs, But Pockets
Hospitals conduct nightly wealth screenings — using software that culls public data such as property records, and contributions charities.
Prices vary wildly from hospital to hospital
The price of a liter of basic saline solution ranged from $56 to $383, nearly seven times as much. A brain MRI with contrast ranged from $3,200 to $8,800.
Depression in First-Year Doctors Depends on Where They Train
Rates were highest in programs whose trainees reported the longest hours, the least helpful faculty feedback, and the least valuable inpatient training programs.
Rural Hospitals in Greater Jeopardy in Non-Medicaid Expansion States
Nearly a hundred rural hospitals in the United States have closed since 2010. Another 600-plus rural hospitals are at risk of closing,
How much will that operation cost?
Hospitals now must to post their prices online. But what is popping up on hospital websites is a dog’s breakfast of codes, abbreviations and dollar signs.
World-famous cancer center’s season of turmoil
Cancer centers grapple with conflict of interests among their leadership, researchers and physicians.
Taking Surprise Medical Bills To Court
Joaquin Lopez had emergency gallbladder surgery after rushing to an ER last year. He has been haggling with the hospital over what he owes ever since.
One Breast Implant, Two Prices. It Depends on Who’s Paying.
Breast implants pricing gives a glimpse into how hospitals mark up prices of medical devices to boost their bottom lines.
Why is so hard to get your medical records?
Medical records can be hard for patients to get, even in this digital information age. But they shouldn’t be.