Physician Hospitals of America
February 18, 2016


PHA Career Center

The PHA Career Center offers one of the most comprehensive career and recruiting sites for physician hospitals and related industries. Make this exclusive resource part of your strategy for career success today!

 

Target your recruiting and reach thousands of qualified medical professionals with quick and easy job postings. Learn more about attracting quality candidates with the PHA Career Center.

 

As always, the PHA Career Center is free to all job seekers and provides you with access to the best jobs in the industry.

PHA News

Marketing and PR Group
PHA can help support you through media relations and strategic public relations campaigns. PHA's marketing and PR group meets monthly by teleconference to discuss issues of mutual interest. Members share important ways to reach out to the media, your communities, and stakeholders.
 
The marketing and PR group will meet by webinar on Friday, February 19 at 1 PM Eastern. If your marketing or PR personnel are interested in getting involved, please direct them to physicianhospitals.org/pr .
Next Regulatory Update Call: March 2, 2016
PHA is pleased to provide regulatory update calls on the first Wednesday of every month. These calls are intended to keep PHA Members informed on regulatory changes of interest to our industry, and are open only to current PHA Members. To sign up for PHA's bi-weekly regulatory report and receive call-in info for our monthly regulatory report, click below.

Next Regulatory Update Call: Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 1:00 PM EST.
Industry News

CMS to Release Star Ratings for Hospital Quality in April 2016
Following the release of star ratings for patient satisfaction last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now plans to rate hospitals across the country on a 1- to 5-star scale for overall quality of care. According to a report released earlier this month, hospitals can expect these new star ratings for quality to appear on the Hospital Compare website in April 2016.
 
CMS will base these new star ratings on 62 measures in 7 major categories: Mortality, Safety of Care, Readmission, Patient Experience, Effectiveness of Care, Timeliness of Care, and Efficient Use of Medical Imaging. The first four categories will each comprise 22% of the total star rating, while the latter three will each comprise 4% of the total star rating.
 
While not releasing any specific hospital names, CMS has already released aggregate numbers of hospitals receiving each star rating: 1-star: 142 (3.89%); 2-star: 716 (19.63%); 3-star: 1,881 (51.58%); 4-star: 821 (22.51%); 5-star: 87 (2.39%).

See the full article from Modern Healthcare here.
Justice Scalia's Death: Leaves Healthcare Cases in Limbo
The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Friday, February 12 has cast uncertainty on a number of healthcare related cases. President Obama intends to nominate a new justice, however he is expected to encounter strong Republican opposition to doing so before the new president takes office in 2017.
 
This article discusses how the loss of the staunchly conservative Scalia from the bench could impact healthcare cases including those relating to the Affordable Care Act, abortion, and more. 

See the full article from Modern Healthcare here.
How Physicians Handle Payment Reform
With reports about physician burnout, depression and professional dissatisfaction making headlines recently, this article examines some of the stresses placed on physicians in the evolving health care marketplace. EHRs, new payment arrangements, narrow networks, and new efforts to evaluate value and performance are among the many stresses highlighted.

See the full article from Healthcare Dive here.
House Energy & Commerce Leaders Seek Industry Comment on Site-Neutral Payments
In an open letter to the health care community on February 5, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) requested comment on the site-neutral payment policy included in last year's Bipartisan Budget Deal. "Given the wide breadth of suggestions, ideas, concerns and proposals shared with the Committee on this issue, we are inviting all interested members of the health care community to provide formal feedback on policies the Committee should examine in the context of both the enactment of this provision of law, as well as other changes to site-neutral payment policies," write the two Chairmen.

See the full release from the Energy & Commerce Committee here.
15 Things for Health Care Leaders to Know about Obama's 2017 Budget
The President's $4.1 trillion FY 2017 budget was released this week. In it, the Obama administration addresses a wide array of health care issues, including cancer research, prescription drug abuse, mental health, expansion of Medicaid in the states, cutting drug costs, and many more.

See the full article from the Becker's Hospital Review here.
CMS Issues Final Rule on Medicare Overpayments
The final rule published by CMS this week holds doctors liable for overpayments up to six years ago. This represents a softening of the original proposed rule, which contained a 10-year lookback period provision. CMS has published a fact sheet
on this final rule to clarify many frequently asked questions.

See the full article from MedPage Today here.

About PHA
Physician Hospitals of America , or PHA, offers support, advocacy, and educational services to the physician-owned hospital industry, reflecting at all times the best interests of the patients, physicians, and other specialty providers who play an inextricable and essential role in the provision of health care services.
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