Bara Vaida

How Safe Are Our Hospitals?

KFF Health News Original

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the state of Maryland have rated patient safety at hospitals in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

Doctor, Did You Check Your Checklist?

KFF Health News Original

Thousands die in hospitals because of mistakes – often simple oversights – made by doctors and nurses. Here’s how hospitals can improve patient safety.

Group Seeks A ‘Center-Right’ Consensus To Replace Health Law

KFF Health News Original

A group of Washington D.C. Republican-leaning former business and government officials have launched a coalition to build support for a policy to replace the sweeping 2010 health law if it were to be repealed through the legislative or judicial process. Headed by James Wootton, the Partnership for America, is expected to have a budget of […]

Thomas More Appeals Health Suit to Supremes

KFF Health News Original

The first health care lawsuit that was decided by an appeals court is now at the doorstep of the Supreme Court. The Thomas More Law Center filed an appeal Wednesday with the high court asking it to overturn the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals June 29 decision upholding the constitutionality of the health law. “Review […]

Some Small Businesses Say Health Insurers Are Dropping Their Coverage

KFF Health News Original

One in eight small businesses told the National Federation of Independent Business that since the health law passed in 2010, their health insurer had either terminated their plan or notified them it is going to be eliminated. The NFIB said it couldn’t say for certain that small businesses were losing their insurance because of the health […]

New Health Agency Asks Public “Who Are We?”

KFF Health News Original

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, one of the new entities created by the 2010 health law, asked the public last week to help them define the organization’s mission. The move follows the controversy that arose around comparative effectiveness and health care rationing during the 2009 health care debate, which led Congress to add a provision […]

CDC Releases New Outpatient Safety Checklist

KFF Health News Original

Just as airline pilots are required to use safety checklists before taking off, so should medical facilities who are treating people on an outpatient basis, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. The CDC issued a new set of safety checklist guidelines to reduce outpatient infections because it has found that multiple […]

Cleveland Clinic Sees $30M In Doc Training Funds At Stake in Deficit Talks

KFF Health News Original

Dr. James Stoller, chair of the Education Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, is nervously watching the deficit talks on Capitol Hill. Among the proposals being discussed is a plan to cut as much as $14 billion over 10 years from Medicare reimbursements for doctor training, according to a list summarizing possible health cuts leaked Tuesday. […]

Hospital Spots Push Back Against Payment Cuts

KFF Health News Original

As Congress and the White House continue to struggle over reducing the deficit, a coalition of hospitals and hospital associations launched a second broadcast commercial warning lawmakers not to target them. The Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care is spending $1 million this week on a broadcast campaign that asks Congress to leave hospitals out […]

Small Doc Groups Question Advantages of Health IT

KFF Health News Original

The government is offering as much as $27 billion in incentives to doctors and hospitals to adopt electronic health records, but the question is whether those incentives will be enough. A new study published by the Center for Studying Health System Change and the National Institute for Health Care Reform illustrates the difficulty of getting […]