The NYS Health Accountability Foundations has published the 2008 Regional Health Care Report Card, which presents access, service and quality data for all hospitals and commercial managed care plans in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island.
Review reportcards for Insurance Carriers and Hospitals
According to a recent Milliman study low Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals and providers has lead to higher health insurance costs for consumer and employers. Given the faltering economic landscape fair payment by these government programs is paramount. The gaps in payments to hospitals and providers are being subsidized by employers offering health coverage.
Call your congressmen today and ask him to confront the new administration when building healthcare reform and ask him/her to eliminate this hidden tax on households and employers. For more read NBGH
HUMC became the only New Jersey hospital named to the “HealthGrades America’s 50 Best Hospital” list identifying an elite class of top-performing facilities. HUMC is the only hospital in New Jersey, New York, and New England to be named to the list. 2008 marks the second consecutive year HUMC has achieved this honor. The HealthGrades designation represents the healthcare industry’s only quality ranking based solely on objective clinical outcomes among U.S. hospitals. Hackensack is a member of the NJHCQI Provider Council.
Click here for America’s top 50 Hospitals
By 2009, nearly 55% of U.S. corporations plan on offering a consumer-directed health plan, reports Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health. For Lydell C. Bridgeford’s full story click here
Will P4P initiatives transform behaviors by providers and hospitals to improve healthcare quality, costs and outcome targets? This is a loaded question that has many moving parts. I believe the P4P model will replace the fee for service model but will require a monumental effort on the part of insurance carriers, hospitals, physician, and legislators. The Common Wealth Fund reviews a case study with Partners Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that centers on paying providers to adopt and implement EMRs and then using EMRs to evaluate patient outcomes. A must read for all interested in a Value Based Purchasing Model. Click here
Health expenditures are still rising far faster than the rate of inflation, and that rate of increase is expected to remain steady for the next nine years, according to recent estimates by the federal government. Click for more
