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Despite money-saving changes, hidden expenses affect consumers and hospitals. A hospital bill is often a big enough shock to put us right back in the hospital. In 1980 the average [...]

Aggregate, inflation-adjusted costs for hospitalizations increased 61 percent between 1997 and 2008, according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). During the same period, costs [...]

WASHINGTON -- The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has given its backing to bundling payment for hospitalization, which would essentially give hospitals and physicians an incentive to control costs and avoid [...]

Declining occupancy rates are forcing hospitals to take a long, hard look at labor costs and that means, of course, careful scrutiny of nursing staffing. Although all inpatient hospital departments [...]

Widespread hospital layoffs are being forced today by continued and apparently lasting declines in census. Yet many hospital administrators have never before faced the job of permanently reducing the workforce. [...]

Admissions drop again, cost per case up The hospital operating environment changed dramatically in the past year as admissions dropped sharply, Medicare prospective pricing went into effect, and the private [...]

Objective. To examine the impact of a policy restricting reimbursement for Medicaid anti-ulcer drugs on anti-ulcer drug use and peptic-related hospitalizations. Data Sources/Study Setting. In addition to U.S. Census Bureau data, all of the following from Florida: Medicaid anti-ulcer drug claims data, 1989-1993; Medicaid eligibility data, 1989-1993; and acute care nonfederal hospital discharge abstract data (Medicaid and non-Medicaid), 1989-1993. Study Design. In this observational study, a Poisson multiple regression model was used to compare changes, after policy implementation, in Medicaid reimbursement for prescription anti-ulcer drugs as well as hospitalization rates between pre- and post-implementation periods in Medicaid versus non-Medicaid patients hospitalized with peptic ulcer disease. Principal Findings. Following policy implementation, the rate of Medicaid reimbursement for anti-ulcer drugs decreased 33 percent (p [less than] .001). No associated increase occurred in the rate of Medicaid peptic-related hospitalizations. Conclusions. Florida's policy restricting Medicaid reimbursement for anti-ulcer drugs was associated with a substantial reduction in outpatient anti-ulcer drug utilization without any significant increase in the rate of hospitalization for peptic-related conditions. Key Words. Medicaid reimbursement policy, pharmaceutical claims, peptic ulcer disease, hospitalization, Among the challenges facing the American healthcare system, perhaps none are more daunting than those related to Medicaid programs. Financing for Medicaid, provided by both the federal and state governments, [...]

A Saskatchewan study has confirmed what cost-cutting politicians have been assuming all along-that providing patients who are not critically ill with home-care services costs less than keeping them in hospital. [...]

The 1990 NHS Act removes the disincentive for hospitals to develop quality systems by paying them for the work they actually do, rather than giving them a fixed budget based on work carried out in previous years. By treating more patients, hospitals can not only increase their revenue but cut the cost per patient. This creates an incentive for hospitals to provide quality care since this can shorten a patient's stay in hospital, thereby freeing beds for other patients to be treated.

Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services were virtually preoccupied this year with Medicare prospective pricing. Lawmakers and regulators paid close attention as last year's Medicare hospital payment [...]

In 1984, the number of U.S. multihospital systems increased slightly to 250 systems, up from 243 systems in 1983. Hospitals connected to systems increased to 2,052 in 1984 from 1,958 [...]

Federal regulations do not currently specify reimbursement rates for nursing services. (They are included in the DRG rate.) But most likely, nursing administrators will eventually be required to limit nursing [...]

1985 brings no respite from economic pressures Individual hospital trends may vary substantially. However, ongoing pressures and incentives facing hospitals in 1985 led to a number of overall patterns, as [...]

Hospitals are in for a rough year all around in 1986. The industry will see continued drops in utilization and lengths of stay, along with more financial pressure from several [...]

Are consumers sensitive to hospital costs? Despite all that has been written and reported recently about spiraling health care costs, the general public currently does not appear to be particularly [...]

Small hospitals more than double outpatient cash From the small 50-bed hospital to the large 400-bed medical center, the percentage of total revenues for outpatient services has soared since the [...]

Ambulatory care DRGs. Ambulatory visit groups. Outpatient DRGs. Whatever you call them, they've been under discussion for years; whether they are useful, critics say, is unproven. There doesn't seem to [...]