April 2008 - Posts

• Message to Medicare: Whoa, Nellie!

  Last week, Medicare proposed nine additional “do not pay” conditions, several months before implementing the first eight. I like the concept of not paying for preventable adverse events, but this new list is a case of too far, too fast. In my previous Read More... Posted Mon, Apr 28 2008 7:37 AM by Bob Wachter | 5 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Transparency and Reporting, Quality Measurement, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Health Policy

• Snooping At Britney’s Chart: Why Should Docs and Nurses Have Different Rules?

  Should doctors and nurses be subject to different penalties for precisely the same infraction? Of course not. Are they? Sure. Just ask Britney Spears. Britney was hospitalized at UCLA at least twice in the past few years – once when she gave birth to Read More... Posted Sun, Apr 20 2008 8:53 PM by Bob Wachter | 2 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Information Technology, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Nurses/Nursing, Media/Press Coverage, Medical Ethics

• Should Patient Satisfaction Scores Be Adjusted for Where Patients Shop?

  Last week, Medicare added patient satisfaction data to its hospital reporting website. This is progress, but it raises an interesting question: should patient satisfaction scores be case-mix adjusted? The motivation to include patient satisfaction data Read More... Posted Sun, Apr 13 2008 4:03 AM by Bob Wachter | 1 Comments Filed under: Hospital Care, Pay-for-performance, Transparency and Reporting, Quality Measurement, Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine, Information Technology, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• A Quick Thanks for a Very Nice Honor

  Today, Modern Healthcare released its yearly list of the 50 most influential physician-execs in the U.S. I have to believe that you, my readers, are at least partly responsible (along with my parents and their pals in Boca) for my #19 position, the highest Read More... Posted Tue, Apr 08 2008 5:35 AM by Bob Wachter | 5 Comments Filed under: Medical Education/Academia, Health Policy, Media/Press Coverage

• Notes from the Society of Hospital Medicine's Annual Meeting

  A few random observations from the Society of Hospital Medicine’s annual meeting in San Diego: There are about 1600 people here, most of whom I don’t know. How did this happen? People still seem pretty jazzed about their jobs and lives. The meeting has Read More... Posted Sat, Apr 05 2008 7:39 AM by Bob Wachter | 0 Comments Filed under: Quality Improvement, Hospital Care, Efficiency, Hospitalists/Hospital Medicine, Patient Safety/Medical Errors, Health Policy