Advocates for Evidence-Based Health Policy Speakers
Category: Quality
CMS demands technology utopia in hospitals
The advancement of health information technology is surely becoming one of the foremost changes in the American health care system. Assuming the adoption of more advanced technologies will improve quality and efficiency, several recent federal policies have encouraged (if not Continue Reading …
Do EHRs Improve Quality of Care?
Over the past few years, use of electronic health records (EHRs) have grown exponentially. However, there has not been definitive proof that EHRs help improve quality and lower costs of health care. This article reviews whether having complementary incentives to EHRs Continue Reading …
Cheating the system
The controversial practice of using electronic health record (EHR) systems to “upcode” Medicare claims has attracted the attention of policymakers and triggered targeted audits by the Department of Health and Human Services. “Upcoding” refers to the selection of billing codes Continue Reading …
ER Closures & Mortality at Nearby Hospitals
There has been an increase in demand for emergency care in the U.S., yet access to emergency rooms is diminishing. From 1996 to 2009, annual visits to Emergency Departments (EDs) increased by 51% while the number of EDs decreased by Continue Reading …
Incentivizing health over fee-for-service
In 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services started the Physician Quality Reporting System, or PQRS. PQRS operates on the premise that required reporting of specific delivery-of-care metrics will induce the necessary behavioral changes and infrastructural investment to better Continue Reading …