Physician practices serving high-risk patients may face higher financial penalties
During the first year of a Medicare reimbursement program that rewards quality performance and lower costs, physician practices serving a disproportionate number of high-risk patients were more likely to receive financial penalties, according to Harvard T.H. Chan School…
Electronic health records failed to improve care for stroke patients
Whether or not a hospital has electronic health records (EHRs) does not mean that stroke patients will have better clinical outcomes or higher quality of care, according to a study led by a Harvard T.H. Chan School of…
Health in communities may not suffer after hospital closings
When a hospital closes, local residents may worry about who will care for them when they are sick or that more people will die, but a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health study published May 4, 2015…
Hospitals converting to for-profit status show better financial health, no loss in quality of care
For immediate release: Tuesday, October 21, 2014 Boston, MA — Switching from nonprofit to for-profit status appears to boost hospitals’ financial health but does not appear to lower the quality of care they provide or reduce the proportion…
Hospital CEO pay not linked to quality of care
CEO compensation at nonprofit hospitals varies widely across the United States and is influenced by such factors as hospital size, setting, use of technology, and patient satisfaction — but not quality of care, according to a new study…
New strategies needed to curb costs among expensive Medicare patients
Preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations represent only a small part of the health costs among Medicare patients with the highest expenses, according to a new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Brigham and Women’s…
Hospital performance on trio of medical conditions may predict quality of broader hospital care
How well a hospital performs on three major publicly reported conditions—heart attack, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia—may prove a useful tool in signaling overall hospital mortality rates, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study.…
Rising death rates at rural hospitals suggest need for improvements
Death rates are rising at rural hospitals that serve many poor and elderly people—and the reason may be their inability to provide the most up-to-date treatment, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study. Given…
HSPH welcomes health care journalists to Boston
March 22, 2013 — Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) helped welcome more than 750 reporters, editors, and news producers to Boston for the Association of Health Care Journalists’ annual conference, held March 14-17, 2013. HSPH co-sponsored the…
Debating hospital readmissions penalties and ‘pay for performance’
A federal policy that penalizes hospitals where patients are more often rehospitalized within 30 days of being discharged unfairly targets hospitals that care for the greatest numbers of poor patients, say two Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)…