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The University of Pennsylvania Health System reduced readmissions by more than 25% at four of its hospitals through a reimbursement agreement with Independence Blue Cross that provides no payment from the insurer for readmissions within 30 days of discharge. Penn Medicine Chief Medical Officer Patrick Brennan said even hospitals not included in the deal benefited, as overall hospitals in the system reduced readmissions by 8%. The Philadelphia Tribune (11/20)
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A study in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology found terminal cleaning of hospital rooms may not be enough to prevent patients from being infected with multidrug-resistant organisms. Researchers who analyzed data from Duke University Hospital and Duke Regional Hospital found MDROs were transmitted early and frequently between patients and hospital rooms. Healio (free registration) (11/19)
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Researchers from King's College London said inpatient surveys show 40% of hospitalized patients are bothered by noise at night, leading many to seek an early discharge, only to be readmitted later. Researchers said noise levels regularly exceed international recommendations, and excessive noise can impair communications, cause annoyance and fatigue, and reduce safety and the quality of care. BBC (11/19)
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A report from the Health Care Cost Institute showed office visits to primary care doctors fell 18% from 2012 to 2016, while office visits to physician assistants and nurse practitioners jumped by 129% during the same period. The decline in doctor office visits could be attributed to the expansion in scope of practice laws for nurse practitioners and physician assistants, according to Amanda Frost, the study's lead author. HealthLeaders Media (11/16)
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Patients are more likely to experience positive health care outcomes if they and their families are engaged in their own care, but many physicians are unsure of how to boost patient engagement, according to a paper in BMJ Open. Health care providers cited time constraints and weak administrative support as barriers to implementing patient activation and engagement measures such as motivational interviewing, collaborative goal-setting and shared decision-making. Cardiovascular Business online (11/14)
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Researchers used de-identified EHR data from 169,793 primary care patients ages 18 to 85 and found that sharing EHR data could help identify disparities in hypertension care and sharing quality improvement initiative best practices may help improve the quality of health care across facilities and regions. The findings, published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, revealed that a safety-net system that has implemented quality improvement initiatives for hypertension control had the lowest rate of hypertensive patients with uncontrolled blood pressure. EHR Intelligence (11/19)
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HealthLeaders Media (11/15)
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