In Brief: Uneven Leapfrog Grades For Midwest Hospitals; Missouri Medicaid Chief Departs Abruptly
Uneven Leapfrog Grades for Midwest Hospitals
The Leapfrog Group's recently released hospital safety rankings showed some uneven performance among hospitals in Midwestern states.
Minnesota received the highest score among states in the region, with 46% of its facilities receiving “A” grades, third highest in the nation. Illinois had 48 “A” hospitals, or 42% of those surveyed by Leapfrog, good for fifth on the list. Michigan had 40% of its facilities receiving As, good for seventh among states overall.
However, the scores among Midwest hospitals drop off steeply after that. Among Ohio's hospitals, for example, 32% received As, ranking it 21st overall. In Indiana, 28% received As. In Iowa, the A rate was 28%, and it was 27% in Missouri. Wisconsin and Nebraska had A rates of 20% and 18%, respectively.
Leapfrog graded 2,500 hospitals through the United States, about 55% of the nation's total. They were rated in 26 categories such as infection rate, hospital-inflicted injuries, and medical errors. A little more than 30% of the hospitals nationwide received A grades. More than 40% received grades of C or lower.
“Patient safety shouldn’t be merely a concern; it should be a priority. Everyone – including consumers, hospitals, patients, families of patients, unions and employers – has a role in improving safety in American hospitals,” said Leah Binder, Leapfrog's chief executive officer.
Missouri Medicaid Chief Departs Abruptly
The head of Missouri's Medicaid program departed abruptly last week, according to a statement issued by Gov. Jay Nixon's office.
Ian McCaslin had been appointed to the post by Democrat Nixon's Republican predecessor, former Gov. Matt Blunt, in 2007. However, McCaslin was retained after Nixon took office in 2009. He had support of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
Although Nixon did not say whether McCaslin resigned voluntarily or was ousted, the former Medicaid chief told the Associated Press he did not have another job lined up.
Missouri's Medicaid program contains 880,000 enrollees and has an annual budget of nearly $9 billion.
Nixon, who supports expanding Medicaid enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, has been in a bruising battle with both houses of the GOP-controlled Legislature to approve such an expansion. It is unknown if McCaslin's departure is related to Nixon's struggles.
OSF, Illinois Blues Form ACO
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois has teamed with OSF HealthCare in Peoria to form an accountable care organization, officials said.
Although OSF operates a Pioneer ACO, this is its first ACO involving a commercial population. About 40,000 enrollees in the Illinois Blues residing in Rockford, Peoria, Galesburg, Bloomington and Pontiac will participate. The ACO will commence operations early next year.
"OSF is the kind of industry leader we see a lot of upside in partnering with," said Karen Atwood, president of the Illinois Blues. “It has the size and scale to make a substantive impact, the clinical best practices in place to be successful, and now its incentives are aligned to benefit both its patients and the
overall healthcare system in Illinois.”
