Month: February 2013

Should we hold hospitals accountable for what happens after a patient leaves the hospitals’ doors?  A year ago, I thought the answer was no.  A hospital’s job was to take care of sick patients, make them better and send them on their way.  With more thought and consideration, I have come to conclude that I was probably wrong.  It may be perfectly reasonable to hold hospitals accountable for care beyond…

Continue reading “The 30-day Readmission Rate: Not a quality measure but an accountability measure”

Over the past decade, there has been yet another debate about whether pay-for-performance, the notion that the amount you get paid is tied to some measure of how you perform, “works” or not.  It’s a silly debate, with proponents pointing to the logic that “you get what you pay for” and critics arguing that the evidence is not very encouraging.  Both sides are right. In really simple terms, pay-for-performance, or…

Continue reading “Getting Pay-For-Performance Right”