The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report titled, Hospital Quality Data (PDF). According to the report, hospitals that don’t submit clinical data for patients lose 0.4 percent of Medicare payment updates. This information is necessary to calculate a hospital’s quality measure. To ensure that publicly released data are reliable, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services needs more rigorous methods, the GAO concluded.
In other news, the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services has released a provider letter to ICF-MR providers and Medicaid nursing facilities. The Personal Needs Allowance has been increased from $45 to $60. You may read the letter here.
