Illinois Hospitals Face Fines Over Readmissions
From the Chicago Sun-Times
Some of the Chicago area's most prominent research hospitals — and others that serve its poorest residents — face significant penalties from Medicare for having too many patients in recent years return for a second visit within a month of being admitted.
The federal program will send less reimbursement money to 118 hospitals in Illinois, about 65 percent of the state's total, in the coming year because readmissions are more common than expected, according to newly released data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, which serves many low-income patients, rated worst in the state on Medicare's assessment, nearing the maximum federal penalty of 3 percent.
At Rush University Medical Center, chosen by former President George W. Bush for a knee replacement, a top official said the hospital expects to lose about $1.1 million after too many people returned after getting joint surgeries there.
Doctors and administrators at several local hospitals said the assessment doesn't reflect the complicated social and procedural challenges they must confront. Still, many are taking steps to meet what they say is a laudable goal: improving the care patients get after they walk out of the hospital.
That effort often starts with a conversation, said Chad Whelan, chief medical officer for Loyola University Health System. Loyola was one of 43 Illinois hospitals whose Medicare penalty decreased or stayed the same compared with last year, while 82 hospitals saw their penalties increase.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Sun-Times
Some of the Chicago area's most prominent research hospitals — and others that serve its poorest residents — face significant penalties from Medicare for having too many patients in recent years return for a second visit within a month of being admitted.
The federal program will send less reimbursement money to 118 hospitals in Illinois, about 65 percent of the state's total, in the coming year because readmissions are more common than expected, according to newly released data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, which serves many low-income patients, rated worst in the state on Medicare's assessment, nearing the maximum federal penalty of 3 percent.
At Rush University Medical Center, chosen by former President George W. Bush for a knee replacement, a top official said the hospital expects to lose about $1.1 million after too many people returned after getting joint surgeries there.
Doctors and administrators at several local hospitals said the assessment doesn't reflect the complicated social and procedural challenges they must confront. Still, many are taking steps to meet what they say is a laudable goal: improving the care patients get after they walk out of the hospital.
That effort often starts with a conversation, said Chad Whelan, chief medical officer for Loyola University Health System. Loyola was one of 43 Illinois hospitals whose Medicare penalty decreased or stayed the same compared with last year, while 82 hospitals saw their penalties increase.
Read more in our daily News Update...