Thursday, September 29, 2016

Join us for the CMS National Training Program


Learning Series Webinar

October 13, 2016

1:00 – 2:30 pm ET

 

This webinar will provide information about current topics including:

  • Legislation Updates
  • CMS Goals and Initiatives
  • Medicare Updates
  • Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program Updates 

CMS awards $347 million to continue progress toward a safer health care system


CMS News


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2016

Contact: CMS Media Relations
(202) 690-6145 | CMS Media Inquiries
 

CMS awards $347 million to continue progress toward a safer health care system

Hospital Improvement and Innovation Networks to continue patient safety improvement efforts started under the Partnership for Patients initiative

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded $347 million to 16 national, regional, or state hospital associations, Quality Improvement Organizations, and health system organizations to continue efforts in reducing hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions in the Medicare program. 

The 16 organizations (listed in alphabetical order) receiving contracts in the Hospital Improvement and Innovation Networks are:

  • Carolinas Healthcare System
  • Dignity Health
  • Healthcare Association of New York State
  • HealthInsight
  • The Health Research and Educational Trust of the American Hospital Association
  • Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey
  • Health Services Advisory Group
  • The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania
  • Iowa Healthcare Collaborative
  • Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Health Foundation
  • Minnesota Hospital Association
  • Ohio Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety
  • Ohio Hospital Association
  • Premier, Inc.
  • Vizient, Inc.
  • Washington State Hospital Association

In the complete press release posted on the CMS Newsroom you can find quotes from CMS’ acting principal deputy administrator and chief medical officer Patrick Conway, M.D., Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Debra L. Ness, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families. You will also find a summary of new goals set for the Hospital Improvement and Innovation Networks and a list of learning collaboratives and initiatives to address a wide variety of topics. The press release is posted here: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2016-Press-releases-items/2016-09-29.html
For more information on this announcement, please visit: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2016-Fact-sheets-items/2016-09-29-2.html

Wednesday, September 28, 2016


October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month




breast cancer awareness
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States, next to skin cancer. Some women are at higher risk for breast cancer than others because of their personal or family medical history or because of certain changes in their genes. Getting regular mammograms may lower the risk of dying from breast cancer. To learn more about breast cancer symptoms, risk factors and screening, visit cdc.gov/cancer/breast/.
A mammogram is a preventive screening that is covered by Medicare Part B. For more information, visit medicare.gov/coverage/mammograms.html.



Monthly Partner Update Webinar




Seamless Conversion Enrollment and Medicare Easy Pay

October 4, 2016                      2:30 – 3:30 ET

To register for this event, visit: October Monthly Partner Update 



Medicare Open Enrollment Bootcamp Webinar




October 5, 2016                      1:00 – 3:30 pm ET

This webinar will provide updates on the following:

  • 1-800-MEDICARE Call Center
  • Medicare Plan Finder
  • Fraud Awareness
  • Open Enrollment Media Campaign
  • Tips for Hosting a Successful Enrollment Event

All CMS partners and stakeholders who help people with Medicare make informed health care choices are welcome to attend. To register for this event, visit: Medicare Open Enrollment Bootcamp.



Monthly Learning Series Webinar




Current Topics in Medicare

October 13, 2016                    1:00 – 2:30 pm ET

To register for this event, visit: goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1119064



Other Webinars




Understanding Medicare Webinar (Non-CEU)

October 6, 2016          1:00 – 2:00 pm ET

To register for this event, visit: goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1117768


Medicare and the Marketplace Webinar

October 12, 2016        2:00 – 3:00 pm ET

To register for this event, visit: goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1110441


2017 Overview for Marketplace Open Enrollment Webinar

October  14, 2016        2:00 – 3:00 pm ET

To register for this event, visit: goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1116692


Marketplace 101 Webinar

October 18, 2016         2:00 – 3:00 pm ET

To register for this event, visit: goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1118975



Newly Posted Training Materials









New / Updated CMS Publications








Commitment to Person-Centered Care for Long-Term Care Facility Residents



September 28, 2016
By: Andy Slavitt, Acting Administrator and Kate Goodrich, M.D., M.H.S., Director, Center for Clinical Standards & Quality, CMS




Commitment to Person-Centered Care for Long-Term Care Facility Residents

It’s an experience millions of Americans go through each year, the difficult decisions we face when considering a long-term care facility for a loved one. We want to know that our family member will be safe, properly cared for, and receive the highest quality of care.

We are committed to doing everything we can to increase the knowledge and power that can help families undergo these transitions, particularly with regard to the rights of residents to high quality safety and care. Last year, CMS began offering consumers and families the ability to easily compare facilities based on successful discharges, unplanned emergency visits, and re-hospitalizations through a five-star website. However, the rules of the road for long-term care facilities haven’t had a comprehensive update since 1991. Today, we are pleased to announce that we have finalized new rules to protect and empower residents of long-term care facilities.

Today’s rules are a major step forward to improve the care and safety of the nearly 1.5 million residents in the more than 15,000 long-term care facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These new rules set high standards for quality and safety, while providing facilities with important flexibilities that will assist with the preservation of quality of life and quality of care, and are grounded in the concepts of person-centered care. These changes are an integral part of CMS’s commitment to transform our health system to deliver better quality care and spend our health care dollars in a smarter way, setting high standards for quality and safety in long-term care facilities.

Since proposing to update these rules in July 2015, as part of the White House Conference on Aging, we have received and reviewed nearly 10,000 comments from the public. Many of the comments highlighted an important topic: concern about the use of required binding arbitration agreements that many prospective residents must sign before they are admitted to a long-term care facility. We took all of the comments into careful consideration as we developed the final rule we released today.

Protecting Residents Rights

The rule makes important changes to strengthen the rights of residents and families in the event that a dispute arises with a facility. Historically, many facilities require residents to agree to binding arbitration clauses when they are admitted to these facilities. These clauses require the resident to settle any dispute that may arise using arbitration rather than the court system. Effective (DATE), our final rule will prohibit the use of pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements. This means that facilities may not require residents to sign pre-dispute arbitration agreements as a condition of admission to that long-term care facility.

Facilities and residents will still be able to use arbitration on a voluntary basis at the time a dispute arises. Even then, these agreements will need to be clearly explained to residents, including the understanding that these arbitration agreements are voluntary, and that these agreements should not prevent or discourage residents and families from talking to authorities about quality of care concerns. 

This is part of our ongoing commitment at CMS to making sure that health care becomes more person-centered for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and their family members. These changes further that goal by protecting the health and safety of residents, particularly during vulnerable and critical times like when moving into a long-term care facility. Together, the new requirements in today’s final rule set high standards for quality and safety in long-term care facilities and will provide residents – and their families – with greater protections.
For more information on today’s announcement, please visit the CMS website at: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2016-Press-releases-items/2016-09-29.html

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

***COUNTDOWN TO OPEN ENROLLMENT 4***


CMS News


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2016

Contact: CMS Media Relations
(202) 690-6145 | CMS Media Inquiries
 

***COUNTDOWN TO OPEN ENROLLMENT 4***


Administration launches new campaign to enroll young adults during Open Enrollment
New outreach platforms, better mobile experience, and strong partners will help reach young adults 

Today, as the White House convenes the Millennial Outreach and Enrollment Summit, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced additional initiatives to reach young adults during Open Enrollment and help them find affordable coverage through HealthCare.gov. Young adults had the highest uninsured rates before the Affordable Care Act and have seen the sharpest drop in uninsured rates since 2010. Yet millions of young adults remain uninsured, showing that there is more work to do to equip younger Americans with the tools and information they need to access coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Today, we are announcing new strategies, new tools, and new partnerships to reach young people and help them get covered.

More than 9 in 10 Marketplace-eligible young adults without health insurance have incomes that could qualify them for tax credits to make plans affordable, but that fact hasn’t fully penetrated the millennial community, and we want to change that,” said Kevin Counihan, HealthCare.gov CEO. “This year, we’ll be using new tactics and strategies to reach young adults where they are and deliver the message that they have affordable coverage options. These new tactics will both benefit young Americans and strengthen the Marketplace risk pool.”

New Digital Platforms

For the first time, Open Enrollment outreach will take advantage of online platforms that cater almost exclusively to young adults. Today, we are announcing the first of these new efforts: outreach utilizing Twitch, a social video platform and community for gamers. This effort will feature HealthCare.gov pre-roll before videos, a homepage takeover, and ongoing efforts with streamers on Twitch to amplify our message throughout Open Enrollment. Twitch currently attracts close to 10 million daily active users who, on average, spend 106 minutes per person per day on the site. According to ComScore, Twitch’s core demographic of 18-34 year-olds have above average uninsured rates.

Mobile 2.0

According to ComScore, 1 in 5 millennials access the internet exclusively through mobile devices. Last year, consumers could easily enroll in coverage at HealthCare.gov through mobile devices, but if they wanted to actually shop around and compare plans, the mobile interface could be difficult and time consuming. This year, consumers will find an end-to-end, mobile optimized experience, including a new state-of-the-art shopping process that for the first time offers improved ability to comparison shop on their phone or tablet. Rather than clicking on tiny boxes or zooming in on hard-to-read screens, consumers will now find intuitive navigation and a streamlined interface to compare plans.

09-27-2016

 

 Targeted and Coordinated Partner Campaigns

During 2017 Open Enrollment, CMS and stakeholders will organize a young adult social media outreach campaign under one umbrella: #HealthyAdulting. As part of this coordinated campaign, longstanding Open Enrollment partners will be stepping up their social media engagement and will coordinate with each other to maximize the impact of that social media work in driving enrollment. CMS will be joining with partners to communicate with young people on the digital platforms they prefer – including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr – and engaging in a conversation under a unified #HealthyAdulting message about issues young people care about, whether that’s mental health, women’s wellness, reproductive health, or diabetes prevention.

Together, partners in the #HealthyAdulting campaign reach almost five million social media followers, meaning trusted voices will be raising awareness about Open Enrollment among young adults. Participating organizations include: The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Diabetes Association, American Hospital Association, American Medical Student Association,  the League of United Latin American Citizens, Mental Health America, Autism Speaks, March of Dimes, Mocha Moms, My Halal Kitchen, National Council of La Raza,  National Action Network, National Partnership for Women & Families, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center, Out2Enroll, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Raising Women’s Voices, Truth Initiative, the United Methodist Church, and Young Invincibles. Specific social media activities our partners are planning include:

  • National Council of La Raza will engage their 56,600 Twitter followers by hosting a twitter storm supported by the League of United Latin American Citizens targeting young millennial Latinos and immigrants to discuss the value proposition of healthcare.
  • The National Action Network, a leading civil rights organization founded by Reverend Al Sharpton, will engage their over 500,000 followers using #HealthyAdulting to reach out to young adults.
  • March of Dimes will host a Facebook Chat for its 630,000 followers about prenatal care and preventive services covered as essential benefits under Marketplace plans. 
  • The Planned Parenthood Federation of America will engage their 837,000 followers in a Facebook live-stream led by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health addressing the state of Latina health.

Meanwhile, we are also introducing new partnerships for 2017 with partners that have strong social media followings among young adults. Examples of new partnerships in 2017 include:

  • Tumblr will produce and promote a #HealthyAdulting event that will brand the movement of young adults taking ownership of their health and life choices by gaining health insurance and taking advantage of preventive services and wellness visits.
  • My Halal Kitchen will host Facebook conversations for its 1.3 million followers about healthy living, mental and emotional wellness, and heart health.
  • Autism Speaks will engage its 217,000 Twitter followers by hosting a Twitter chat on the prevalence of autism among young adults, autism screening as a covered benefit, and additional resources the community can use to get the best care.

Collaborating with Federal Partners and Programs

As we get closer to Open Enrollment, we are also working with federal partners to reach people enrolled in their programs who may need and want Marketplace coverage, with a particular focus on reaching young adults. Today we are announcing two new efforts:

  • The Department of Defense will include information about the Marketplace in the Transition Assistance Program, Transition GPS (Goals, Plans, Success) curriculum; more specifically, in the Personal Financial Planning module. The program, run through the Defense Transition Assistance Program Office, will inform transitioning Service members about health insurance options for their family, including HealthCare.gov coverage and possibility of qualifying for Marketplace financial assistance. Since this course is continually being offered, many Service members will lose their military coverage outside of Open Enrollment but would be eligible to sign up for Marketplace coverage through a special enrollment period.  Approximately 200,000 transitioning Service members, many of whom are under the age of 35, will receive this information annually.
  • The Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) will work in coordination with HealthCare.gov to get more and better information to young adults aging out of these programs at age 19, to others exiting Medicaid or CHIP coverage, and to people who apply for these programs but have incomes too high to qualify. Federal law requires states to transfer these individuals’ account information from Medicaid or CHIP to the Health Insurance Marketplace, but the Marketplace has had limited ability to conduct outreach to this group to date. New this year, the Marketplace will be able to contact millions of these individuals via email and mail, and provide information about financial assistance and Marketplace coverage options during Open Enrollment. Almost half of the individuals in this group are age 18-34. In addition, CMS will be releasing new guidance for states outlining best practices for communicating with individuals leaving Medicaid or CHIP and for sharing information with the Marketplace to facilitate direct outreach and to make it easier for individuals to complete a Marketplace application using information they have already provided to their state Medicaid or CHIP program.

In addition, as previously announced, the Internal Revenue Service will conduct new outreach this year to uninsured people who paid the individual responsibility penalty or claimed an exemption, letting them know that tax credits are available for Marketplace coverage and providing information about their health coverage options. Young adults are overrepresented among those who paid the fee: about 45 percent of taxpayers paying a penalty or claiming an exemption were under age 35, compared to about 30 percent of all taxpayers in 2014. Experts have suggested reaching out to those who paid the fee or claimed an exemption to make sure they are aware of their options to enroll in coverage, an approach already implemented in Massachusetts.

 

2016-09-27-2

###

Monday, September 19, 2016

Delivering coordinated, high quality care for patients


CMS News


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2016

Contact: CMS Media Relations
(202) 690-6145 | CMS Media Inquiries
 

CMS BLOG
https://blog.cms.gov/2016/09/19/delivering-coordinated-high-quality-care-for-patients/


  

September 19, 2016
By Dr. Patrick Conway, Acting Principal Deputy Administrator and Chief Medical Officer 

Delivering coordinated, high quality care for patients 

In July 2016, CMS proposed new bundled payment models that continue the Administration’s progress to shift Medicare payments from rewarding quantity to rewarding quality by creating strong incentives for hospitals and clinicians to deliver better care to patients at a lower cost. These proposed new bundled payment models focus on heart attacks, heart bypass surgery, and hip fracture surgery. They would reward hospitals that work together with physicians and other providers to avoid complications, prevent hospital readmissions, and speed recovery. This proposal follows the implementation of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model that begin earlier this year, which introduced bundled payments for certain hip and knee replacements. 

Patients want the peace of mind that comes with knowing they will receive high quality, coordinated care from the minute they are admitted to the hospital through their recovery. Bundling payments for services that patients receive across a single episode of care – such as a heart bypass surgery or hip replacement – encourages better care coordination among hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers. Providers participating in bundled payments must work together when patients are in the hospital as well as after they are discharged, which should improve their recovery and avoid preventable complications and costs by keeping people healthy and at home. 

Doctors, patient advocates, and health care experts across the country support these models because they have seen firsthand their potential for delivering better quality and more cost-effective care. Public and private-sector bundled payment models have already shown promise in improving patient outcomes while lowering costs, including for cardiac and orthopedic care. In Medicare, more than 1,400 providers are currently participating in bundles through the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative. Early results are encouraging: orthopedic surgery bundles, in particular, have shown promising results on cost and quality in the first two years of the initiative. These models keep the patient at the center of care delivery and focus on well-coordinated, high quality care. 

Today, CMS is releasing the second annual evaluation report for Models 2-4 of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, which include both retrospective and prospective bundled payments that may or may not include the acute inpatient hospital stay for a given episode of care. This report describes the characteristics of the participants and includes quantitative results from the first year of the initiative. Future evaluation reports will have greater ability to detect changes in payment and quality due to larger sample sizes and the recent growth in participation of the initiative, which generally is not reflected in this report. Key highlights include: 

·         11 out of the 15 clinical episode groups analyzed showed potential savings to Medicare. Future evaluation reports will have more data to analyze individual clinical episodes within these and additional groups;

·         Orthopedic surgery under Model 2 hospitals showed statistically significant savings of $864 per episode while showing improved quality as indicated by beneficiary surveys.  Beneficiaries who received their care at participating hospitals indicated that they had greater improvement after 90 days post-discharge in two mobility measures than beneficiaries treated at comparison hospitals; and

·         Cardiovascular surgery episodes under Model 2 hospitals did not show any savings yet but quality of care was preserved. Over the next year, we will have significantly more data available, enabling us to better estimate effects on costs and quality. 

While there is more work to be done, CMS continues to move forward to achieving the Administration’s goal to have 50 percent of traditional Medicare payments tied to alternative payment models by 2018. The 2016 goal of tying 30 percent of Medicare payments to alternative payment models was met eleven months ahead of schedule, and we are committed to keeping that momentum. Bundled payments – including the ongoing Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model – continue to be an integral part of transforming our health care system by creating innovative care delivery models that support hospitals, doctors, and other providers in their efforts to deliver better care for patients while spending taxpayer dollars more wisely.   

To view the evaluation report, please visit the CMS Innovation Center website at: https://innovation.cms.gov/Data-and-Reports/index.html.  

Potentially avoidable hospital readmissions


CMS Blog
http://blog.cms.gov/2016/09/13/new-data-49-states-plus-dc-reduce-avoidable-hospital-readmissions

 

September 7, 2016

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 discharge are estimated to account for more than $17 billion in Medicare expenditures annually.[1]  Not only are readmissions costly, but they are often a sign of poor quality care. Many readmissions can be avoided through improvements in care, such as making sure that patients leave the hospital with appropriate medications, instructions for follow-up care, and follow-up appointments scheduled to make sure their recovery stays on track.

 

To address the problem of avoidable readmissions, the Affordable Care Act created the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, which adjusts payments for hospitals with higher than expected 30-day readmission rates for targeted clinical conditions such as heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has also undertaken other major quality improvement initiatives, such as the Partnership for Patients, which aim to make hospital care safer and improve the quality of care for individuals as they move from one health care setting to another.

 

The data show that these efforts are working. As described below, between 2010 and 2015, readmission rates fell by 8 percent nationally. Today, CMS is releasing new data showing how these improvements are helping Medicare patients across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data show that since 2010: 

·         All states but one have seen Medicare 30-day readmission rates fall.[2]

·         In 43 states, readmission rates fell by more than 5 percent.

·         In 11 states, readmission rates fell by more than 10 percent.

 

Readmissions Data 

 

Across states, Medicare beneficiaries avoided almost 104,000 readmissions in 2015 alone, compared to if readmission rates had stayed constant at 2010 levels. That means Medicare beneficiaries collectively avoided 104,000 unnecessary return trips to the hospital. Cumulatively since 2010, the HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation estimates that Medicare beneficiaries have avoided 565,000 readmissions.

 

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program is just one part of the Administration’s broader strategy to reform the health care system by  paying providers for what works, unlocking health care data, and finding new ways to coordinate and integrate care to improve quality. Other initiatives include Accountable Care Organizations, as well as efforts by Quality Improvement Organizations and Hospital Engagement Networks, which fund quality improvement expert consultants to work with provider and hospital communities to improve care. The goal of all of these efforts is to spend our health care dollars more wisely to promote better care for Medicare beneficiaries and other Americans across the country.

State
2010
2015
% Change in Readmission Rates
Reduction in readmissions in 2015 compared to 2010
Hospital Admissions
Readmission Rate
Hospital Admissions
Readmission Rate
AK
9,809
14.50%
9,954
13.70%
-5.50%
-78
AL
154,856
17.20%
143,210
16.20%
-5.80%
-1,503
AR
103,056
17.70%
92,562
16.60%
-6.20%
-993
AZ
135,293
16.60%
128,061
14.80%
-10.80%
-2,270
CA
574,176
17.60%
547,558
16.60%
-5.70%
-5,580
CO
83,346
14.20%
81,822
12.90%
-9.20%
-1,099
CT
109,888
18.10%
96,492
16.70%
-7.70%
-1,306
DC
23,907
20.00%
23,194
18.50%
-7.50%
-346
DE
29,827
17.40%
32,257
15.60%
-10.30%
-575
FL
619,368
18.20%
588,187
17.70%
-2.70%
-3,161
GA
209,500
17.50%
191,485
16.20%
-7.40%
-2,453
HI
16,824
14.90%
15,799
12.90%
-13.40%
-315
IA
100,490
15.50%
91,256
14.50%
-6.50%
-910
ID
25,432
12.50%
28,139
12.20%
-2.40%
-78
IL
421,395
19.80%
335,610
17.40%
-12.10%
-8,108
IN
210,919
17.40%
186,241
16.10%
-7.50%
-2,474
KS
90,545
16.30%
87,224
14.70%
-9.80%
-1,361
KY
162,249
19.70%
132,511
17.90%
-9.10%
-2,384
LA
129,123
18.70%
112,328
16.90%
-9.60%
-2,013
MA
208,356
19.00%
197,649
17.90%
-5.80%
-2,213
MD
189,323
21.10%
170,510
18.90%
-10.40%
-3,789
ME
43,450
16.10%
38,571
15.50%
-3.70%
-232
MI
343,346
18.60%
280,152
18.00%
-3.20%
-1,767
MN
129,642
15.70%
130,725
14.60%
-7.00%
-1,435
MO
203,685
18.20%
174,677
16.90%
-7.10%
-2,311
MS
106,281
19.10%
96,252
17.60%
-7.90%
-1,469
MT
27,962
13.90%
27,518
13.10%
-5.80%
-231
NC
269,108
17.00%
235,283
15.90%
-6.50%
-2,472
ND
26,562
15.40%
26,650
14.40%
-6.50%
-267
NE
60,007
15.70%
56,791
14.40%
-8.30%
-735
NH
36,189
15.70%
39,871
15.30%
-2.50%
-152
NJ
281,282
20.30%
250,924
17.60%
-13.30%
-6,774
NM
36,209
15.20%
33,016
14.80%
-2.60%
-118
NV
51,787
18.00%
52,308
17.00%
-5.60%
-529
NY
491,897
19.90%
402,439
17.80%
-10.60%
-8,407
OH
325,091
18.80%
267,743
16.80%
-10.60%
-5,405
OK
119,346
17.40%
106,073
15.60%
-10.30%
-1,878
OR
58,182
14.30%
61,393
14.20%
-0.70%
-75
PA
369,418
18.10%
324,166
16.60%
-8.30%
-4,995
RI
24,142
19.00%
24,705
17.00%
-10.50%
-487
SC
130,950
16.50%
125,993
15.50%
-6.10%
-1,237
SD
31,269
14.90%
30,806
13.20%
-11.40%
-515
TN
207,875
18.40%
180,666
16.80%
-8.70%
-2,905
TX
571,147
17.10%
509,738
16.10%
-5.80%
-4,960
UT
33,534
12.20%
38,142
11.50%
-5.70%
-261
VA
207,241
17.50%
211,674
16.40%
-6.30%
-2,302
VT
15,439
15.30%
16,332
15.40%
0.70%
21
WA
130,798
15.30%
131,817
14.20%
-7.20%
-1,388
WI
137,336
15.60%
124,274
14.50%
-7.10%
-1,373
WV
70,144
19.90%
60,630
18.60%
-6.50%
-777
WY
13,277
15.10%
12,838
14.20%
-6.00%
-110

 

 



[1] Jencks, S. F., Williams, M. V. and Coleman, E. A. (2009). 'Rehospitalizations among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program'. New England Journal of Medicine, 360 (14), 1418-1428.

[2] The readmission rate in Vermont was virtually unchanged, increasing slightly from 15.3% in 2010 to 15.4% in 2015. This change correlates to 21 additional readmissions compared to if the state’s rate had remained constant.