Seeking to bring down costs, the Obama administration is implementing a program that collects data on how much hospitals bill the Medicare program for patient care—and hospitals are not happy about it. Hospital payments account for the largest share of Medicare expenses, and Medicare is the number one purchaser of hospital services.

 

Medicare officials plan to analyze the billing information and devise performance scores in order to compare how each hospital is doing to keep costs under control. Beginning in October 2012, officials will hand out rewards and penalties for the best and worst performers.

 

The new program will factor in not only the cost of care received at a hospital, but also that related to medical services provided by doctors and other health care professionals 90 days after discharge. Hospitals oppose the program because, they argue, they have little control over services provided after a patient goes home. They also are concerned about the measures of efficiency that Medicare officials have devised to show how hospitals are performing.

 

The Department of Health and Human Services already maintains a web site, Hospital Compare, which allows Americans to compare satisfaction and outcome rankings for hospitals in their area.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Medicare Plan for Payments Irks Hospitals (by Robert Pear, New York Times)