Hospital Doors Revolve for Many Medicare Patients - Health Blog - WSJ

The WSJ Health Blog reports on April 2, 2009 that MEDPAC is recommending restructuring hospital payments in a "bundle" to incentive hospitals to minimize readmissions of Medicare patients.  We'll see how this plays out, but I can certain envision greater integration of bundled prospective payments for, at least, certain types of admissions.

Some 20% of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital are readmitted within a month, and 34% return within three months, according to a study published in the current New England Journal of Medicine. Unplanned rehospitalizations cost Medicare $17.4 billion in 2004, the study says...MedPac, a commission that advises Congress on Medicare policy, has recommended that Medicare start a pilot program in which “bundled” payments extend beyond the first hospital stay to include, say, the first 30 days after discharge. The idea, which is also part of President Obama’s budget proposal, is that if hospitals get paid fixed rates for caring for certain conditions — and they don’t get paid more for those same conditions if patients return — hospitals will have a financial incentive to reduce the risk of readmission.

via Hospital Doors Revolve for Many Medicare Patients - Health Blog - WSJ.