I assume hospitals won't love these new rules, but they should have a serious impact on patient care outcomes.
There are two big parts of the health reform law going into effect [Monday]. One penalizes hospitals if patients are re-admitted to the hospital within one month of a visit for a condition that should have been dealt with on the first trip. The other seeks to redistribute higher Medicare payments to the hospitals that are delivering better care.
Redistribute!!! AAAAAHHHH!
Seriously, readmission is an expensive problem.
In 2010 alone, this happened 1.9 million times at an estimated cost of $17.5 billion.
When everyone was talking about "bending the cost curve," this is part of what they were talking about. Improved outcomes means fewer sick people which means fewer re-admissions which means lower costs.