The study centers on Medicare fee-for-service provider data from 2012 and 2013 to map the service areas of home-based medical care providers and identify gaps in coverage, Pantagraph reports.
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For more information on CMS” star ratings, visit www.medicare.gov/HospitalCompare/Data/Patient-Experience-Domain.html, or search on “Hospital Compare” and look for “Star Ratings.
“We recommend patients review detailed safety information available on Hospital Compare in order to make informed decisions about their health care”, she says.
Sutter Medical Centers in Sacramento, Roseville and Davis all received four star ratings along with Kaiser Hospital in Roseville.
Medicare often caves in to healthcare industry demands and has backed off many proposed rules that powerful doctors, hospitals and drug companies opposed.
Many older Americans who have chronic diseases have limited access to in-home medical care, not only because of their location but also because primary care providers are less likely to visit their patients at home, according to a new study. He also says CMS’ system has been criticized by some for oversimplifying a complicated health care system.
“Treating a nursing home resident in any manner that does not uphold a resident’s sense of self-worth and individuality dehumanizes the resident and creates an environment that perpetuates a disrespectful and/or potentially abusive attitude towards the resident (s)”, CMS director David Wright wrote.
But as Leah Binder who heads The Leapfrog Group, which advocates for patient safety, has noted on Forbes.com, the letter sent by the senators did not mention responsibility to patients who may suffer harm in a hospital. Most recently, U.S. News and World Report ranked more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals and most in Kentucky.
That’s cause for alarm and may be a reason why CMS didn’t bow to political pressure this time. There’s one for each of the components: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures; and an overall rating, which is calculated by combining each of the three component scores.
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Clearly, if you’re planning a hospital stay for major surgery or any reason, check both CMS sites for the star ratings and the readmissions penalties.
