Meena Seshamani1, Jingsan Zhu, Kevin G Volpp. 1. Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6021, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 was a cost-saving measure designed to reduce Medicare reimbursements by $116.4 billion from 1998 to 2002. Resulting financial strain could adversely affect the quality of patient care in hospitals. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether 30-day mortality rates for surgical patients who developed complications changed at different rates in hospitals under different levels of financial strain from the BBA. METHODS: Pennsylvania hospital discharge data, financial data, and death certificate data from 1997 to 2001 were obtained. A retrospective multivariate analysis examined whether 30-day mortality rates from 8 postoperative complications varied based on degree of hospital financial strain. RESULTS: The average magnitude of Medicare payment reduction on overall hospital net revenues was estimated at 1.8% for hospitals with low BBA impact and 3.5% for hospitals with high impact in 1998, worsening to 2.0% and 4.8%, respectively, by 2001. Mortality rates changed at similar rates for high- and low-impact hospitals from 1997 to 1999, but from 1997 to 2000 mortality rates increased more among patients in high-impact compared with low-impact hospitals (P<0.05). From 2000 to 2001, mortality rates among impact groups converged. There were no statistically significant differences based on BBA impact in changes in nursing staff or length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: The mortality of surgical patients who developed postoperative complications increased to a greater degree in the short term in hospitals affected more by BBA. Measuring the quality impact of reimbursement cuts is necessary to understand cost-quality tradeoffs that may accompany cost-saving reforms.
BACKGROUND: The Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 was a cost-saving measure designed to reduce Medicare reimbursements by $116.4 billion from 1998 to 2002. Resulting financial strain could adversely affect the quality of patient care in hospitals. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether 30-day mortality rates for surgical patients who developed complications changed at different rates in hospitals under different levels of financial strain from the BBA. METHODS: Pennsylvania hospital discharge data, financial data, and death certificate data from 1997 to 2001 were obtained. A retrospective multivariate analysis examined whether 30-day mortality rates from 8 postoperative complications varied based on degree of hospital financial strain. RESULTS: The average magnitude of Medicare payment reduction on overall hospital net revenues was estimated at 1.8% for hospitals with low BBA impact and 3.5% for hospitals with high impact in 1998, worsening to 2.0% and 4.8%, respectively, by 2001. Mortality rates changed at similar rates for high- and low-impact hospitals from 1997 to 1999, but from 1997 to 2000 mortality rates increased more among patients in high-impact compared with low-impact hospitals (P<0.05). From 2000 to 2001, mortality rates among impact groups converged. There were no statistically significant differences based on BBA impact in changes in nursing staff or length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: The mortality of surgical patients who developed postoperative complications increased to a greater degree in the short term in hospitals affected more by BBA. Measuring the quality impact of reimbursement cuts is necessary to understand cost-quality tradeoffs that may accompany cost-saving reforms.
Authors: Virginia Wang; Shailender Swaminathan; Emily A Corneau; Matthew L Maciejewski; Amal N Trivedi; Ann M O'Hare; Vincent Mor Journal: Clin J Am Soc Nephrol Date: 2020-09-22 Impact factor: 8.237
Authors: Joseph S Ross; Susannah M Bernheim; Zhenqiu Lin; Elizabeth E Drye; Jersey Chen; Sharon-Lise T Normand; Harlan M Krumholz Journal: Health Aff (Millwood) Date: 2012-08 Impact factor: 6.301