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The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association released 22 new clinical and performance quality measures for adults with hypertension. The guidance, published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, also expands the care model beyond blood pressure control targets to care delivery, including the importance of using a patient-centered approach and consideration of social determinants of health. Medscape (free registration) (11/15)
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The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association gave support to the Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Act of 2019, which would move up the date that advanced practice providers can supervise cardiac rehab services under Medicare to 2019. A law passed in 2018 allowed APPs to supervise cardiac rehab but set the start date to 2024. Cardiovascular Business online (11/14)
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The CMS should ask for more data from state hospice inspectors to ensure hospices are meeting federal quality measures, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. The report says Medicare hospice patients are more likely to be discharged by for-profit hospices before they pass away and for-profit hospices are less likely to send a physician or other health professional to visit patients in the three days before their death, compared with nonprofit hospices. Bloomberg Law (free content) (11/14)
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Hospitals should have a centralized response plan for active-shooter events that identifies one decision-maker for the operating room, post-anesthesia-care unit, ICU, emergency department and other critical-care areas, researchers wrote in the journal Surgery. No large urban trauma hospitals with an active-shooter Incident Action Plan that were examined had one that included how to conduct ongoing care delivery in the OR and other critical care units, the authors wrote. Medscape (free registration) (11/12)
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HHS released two health care price transparency rules on Friday, one final rule to require hospitals to make all standard charges public and one proposed rule affecting health insurance plans. The Transparency in Coverage proposed rule would require up-front disclosure of price and cost-sharing to members by most employer-based group plans and health insurance issuers that have group and individual coverage. Kaiser Health News (11/15)
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Researchers implemented an EHR prompt at three Penn Medicine health network hospitals and found that the tool, which notifies clinicians about patients' need for follow-up breast or colorectal cancer screening exams, led to an increase in exam ordering rates by 22.2 percentage points and 14 percentage points, respectively, but not screening completion rates. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, showed that the difference between order and completion rates may be due to scheduling and compliance issues. AuntMinnie (free registration) (11/15)
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Ambulances connected with 5G could change emergency care by allowing doctors to diagnose patients who are still miles away from the hospital. A demonstration at UK-based University Hospitals Birmingham included a camera in the ambulance that allows clinicians to observe a patient, ultrasound technology that the doctor can work remotely to perform scans, real-time measurements of vital signs and a patient's EHR. ZDNet (11/18)
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