Reform Needed for Consistent Pricing I recently came across an article which detailed a summer research project on health care costs. It was conducted by a student, who called over 100 hospitals across the country. The inquiry involved a fictitious...

Care Planning Reduces Hospital Re-Admission Elderly parents suffering from heart failure constitute a large percentage of hospital re-admissions. Those suffering this malady greatly impact the cost of health care due to the ongoing medical vigilance required to maintain healthy blood...

Transition Assistance Needed for Elderly Patients Do you know any elderly parent who enjoys their hospital stay? If your experience is like mine, your parents do not want to be hospitalized. If at all possible, they will avoid any trip to...

Hand-off to Home Care Services Research data has established a strong link between attention to care transitions and lower readmission rates. When and how a patient is prepared for hospital discharge greatly effects probability of success - which in this...

Medicare Attempts to Rein In Costs Hospitals with higher-than-average 30-day risk-adjusted re-admission rates for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia cases between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2011, will receive reduced Medicare payments starting in FY 2013, capped at...

The function of a community hospital is to provide medical care and resources for it's patient community. But, until now, there has been no responsibility or - "ownership"  - for inefficiency. It is the judgment of Medicare that many...

Issue re-cap: Medicare has begun penalizing U.S. hospitals for having too many counts of patient re-admissions. Unacceptable numbers of re-admissions will be penalized by reducing the reimbursements paid by Medicare back to hospitals for their services. Other hospitals are...

Educated Choices for Elder Care Why do some families and elderly parents choose to hire caregivers directly rather than through an agency? Sometimes, this decision is driven by economics and family assets. People look to do anything to save money -...

Common Sense Steps Can Help   It seems like everywhere I turn, I hear about someone who is sick with the flu. The city of Boston last week declared a "health emergency" due to the number of cases being reported. Emergency...

Support Elderly Needs Estimates are that as many as 50% of those over 85 suffer from some form of dementia. These individuals are often affected in terms of judgment (forgetting, for example, how to use certain household appliances); sense of...