Medical Staff

Safety-net hospitals lag behind

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, May 20, 2008

Safety-net hospitals that typically treat urban and underserved patients offer lower quality care than non-safety net hospitals, according to a study released by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) this month. The study evaluated 3,665 hospitals over three years and found that hospitals with higher numbers of Medicaid patients performed worse than those with less Medicaid patients. The study may cause concern that safety-net hospitals will suffer even more based on a pay-for-performance model, and non-safety net hospitals will gain bonuses, in essence, creating a bigger financial inequality between the two types of facilities.

 

Comments

0 comments on “Safety-net hospitals lag behind

 

Most Popular

Related Articles