Readmission penalties estimated near half billion

Medicare continues its polices of penalizing hospitals who re-admit patients too quickly if they were treated for certain conditions. The push embodies the effort to change reimbursement to become more value-based: paying for what works instead of simply paying for procedures performed. Kaiser Health News reported that Medicare expects to save $564 million from this program this year.

The article suggests that the program is achieving its goals, as re-admissions in the targeted conditions have been dropping.