Transforming Health Care Delivery through the CMS Innovation Center: Better Care, Healthier People, and Smarter Spending

January 5, 2017 By Dr. Patrick Conway, Acting Principal Deputy Administrator We have made great progress in recent years on reforming our system into one that delivers better quality of care for patients and pays for care in a smarter way, including investing more in prevention and primary care. Before 2010, there had been only modest efforts to improve care …

Fight Fraud by Guarding Your Medicare Number

Health care fraud drives up costs for everyone in the health care system.  One way to protect against such fraud is to guard your Medicare number.  Fraud schemes often depend on identity thieves getting hold of people’s Medicare numbers, so treat your number as you would a credit card.   Follow these important steps to protect yourself from fraud:   …

CMS blog – readmissions to hospitals

By Patrick Conway, M.D., principal deputy administrator and chief medical officer, CMS; and Tim Gronniger, deputy chief of staff, CMS The unfortunate experience of having to return to the hospital after recently being treated—or watching the same thing happen to a friend or family member—is all too common. Potentially avoidable hospital readmissions that occur within 30 days of a patient’s initial …

DIAGNOSIS: UNPREPARED Elderly Hospital Patients Arrive Sick, Often Leave Disabled

By Anna Gorman Photos by Heidi de Marco August 9, 2016 SAN FRANCISCO — Janet Prochazka was active and outspoken, living by herself and working as a special education tutor. Then, in March, a bad fall landed her in the hospital. Doctors cared for her wounds and treated her pneumonia. But Prochazka, 75, didn’t sleep or eat well at Zuckerberg …

Diagnosis: Unprepared

Hospitals can be hazardous places for elderly patients, who are at increased risk of falling, drug-induced injury and confusion. But as the nation’s senior population grows, many facilities are ill-equipped to address their unique needs. Kaiser Health News visited hospitals around the country, reviewed data and interviewed dozens of patients, family members and health providers to document the extent of …