Medicare to test new incentive system with New Jersey Hospitals

by: Jason Springer

Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 03:00:00 PM EDT

They are going to be testing a new program here in New Jersey that will attempt to cut down on some of the healthcare costs for Medicare:

Twelve New Jersey hospitals and their participating physicians are taking part in the Physician Hospital Collaboration Demonstration, a Medicare project that will evaluate gainsharing as an innovative new incentive method that aims to reduce healthcare costs while improving quality of care.

Here's more about the program they are trying out:

NJHA spearheaded the effort to win a waiver from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to test the initiative in New Jersey. Called "gainsharing," the program offers physicians financial incentives to work with hospitals in lowering costs in a variety of ways. The program also includes stringent quality controls to protect patients.
The program is designed to encourage physicians and hospitals to work together to provide the most efficient care for patients. Currently, Medicare reimburses hospitals a fixed rate for treating a Medicare patient, based on the patient's diagnosis. But physicians are paid differently, receiving individual payments for each procedure or each day spent in the hospital. Those very different payment philosophies are inconsistent, and the gainsharing project aims to bring them together.
Under gainsharing, physicians may share a portion of the savings that are realized by working with the hospital to make a patient's stay more efficient.

We constantly hear about the disparity in reimbursement rates and it's an interesting approach that provides incentives to the physician by allowing them to share in the savings that are realized, while at the same time cutting down on the overall cost of the sytem in the process.

The goal of the program is to use the data, from quality of care to cost savings, to help determine whether its strategies could be replicated nationwide. I'll put the participating hospitals below the fold.

Jason Springer :: Medicare to test new incentive system with New Jersey Hospitals

Participating hospitals are AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Overlook Hospital in Summit, Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, JFK Medical Center in Edison and CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold.

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Medicare to test new incentive system with New Jersey Hospitals | 1 comments

Unfortunately (0.00 / 0)

This smells like a give away to the big hospitals who don't like competition.

I know of 2 physicians who escaped the ridiculousness at HUMC before the scandals broke, who are now being given the run-around by Medicare after filing the paperwork to open their own offices in the Hackensack area.

There should be an investigation into the ways that NJ physicians are being denied Medicare payments after leaving hospitals such as HUMC .

I find it hard to believe it is just a coincidence. It appears that someone is running out the clock, these doctors may NEVER get their money if it takes over a year and a half for the "glitches" to get straightened out.

One Vote. Yours. It really does matter.

by: carolh @ Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 21:43:00 PM UTC