Dive Brief: Choosing to have surgery at a facility affiliated with a highly rated U.S. hospital doesn’t guarantee the same quality experience, a new study in JAMA Surgery finds. In an analysis of hospitals affiliated with U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll hospitals, surgical outcomes varied widely both within and across networks. Moreover, Honor Roll… Read More »
Dive Brief: Wait times for new patients at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and private hospitals were similar in 2014, a new Journal of the American Medical Association study authored by researchers affiliated with the VA found. But while wait times in the private sector appeared to be static between 2014 and 2017, wait times… Read More »
Dive Brief: New evidence links CMS’ Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program to unintended harm in some patients, a JAMA editorial suggests. Researchers analyzed 8.3 million hospitalizations of Medicare enrollees for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction and pneumonia over four periods from April 2005 through March 2015. Thirty-day post-discharge mortality for heart failure patients rose following announcement… Read More »
About one in six medical professionals in the United States are immigrants from other countries, according to new research published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. And they often fill employment gaps left by a dearth of American-born workers, concentrated largely in rural and community markets, which have a tougher time attracting talent.… Read More »