Medicare Spotlights Hospitals With Especially Costly Patients

Kaiser Health News writes: The government has identified hundreds of hospitals whose Medicare patients are incurring especially high bills, a first step toward using bonuses and penalties to encourage more efficient care.  The new Medicare figures show wide variance among hospitals around the country, even ones just a few miles apart.  Medicare believes that identifying these discrepancies will help clamp down on excess medical care. As the nation’s biggest insurer, Medicare’s proposal to link reimbursement to efficient care is expected to reverberate throughout the health care system when it starts in October 2014.  The plan has alarmed hospitals, particularly since Medicare intends to hold hospitals accountable not just for the cost of services provided while at the hospital and in follow-up care, but for every test, treatment or stay that occurs 30 days after discharge, no matter the reason.

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