Hospitals React To Readmission Penalties
Medicare News Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012Capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org: By Diane Webber – AUGUST 17TH, 2012, 8:53 AM.
This week, a KHN analysis of Medicare data showed that 2,211 hospitals will face penalties in October for having too many patients readmitted for care within 30 days of discharge.
Hospital executives around the country have had something to say about those penalties and the new policy. Here’s a round-up of how the story played as it was picked up and localized by some of our reporting partners at NPR member stations around the country.
Pennsylvania & Delaware
Taunya English, covering the story at WHYY in Philadelphia, reported on resistance to the policy coming from the regional hospital association.
“[Medicare] needs to remember that people are not cars,” Curt Schroder, head of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, told English. “They seem to be treating hospitals like auto repair shops. In other words, ‘You should be able to change the tire, send them on their way and not see them for another 5,000 miles.’” Read more
