Calif. Hospital Report Cards Likely To Go Away
CA, United States (KaiserHealth) – On the Cal Hospital Compare website, conscientious consumers in California can look up scorecards for their local hospitals. How well does the hospital control infections? How often do patients die from complications that can be treated? How satisfied are most patients with their experience?
Most major hospitals in California give the data voluntarily to independent researchers who analyze and publish consumer-friendly reports.
The project was considered a pioneering effort when it started in 2004, but Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokesperson for the California Hospital Association, says the report cards have outlived their usefulness. “Today there are numerous places consumers can get information on the quality of care delivered by hospitals,” Emerson-Shea says. “Public reporting has very much come of age at this point in time.”
As a result, the California Hospital Association recently sent a letter to the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce, which oversees the scorecards, announcing its intention to withdraw from the project.
Emerson-Shea says hospitals have become overwhelmed by the administrative burden of reporting data to multiple agencies.
Indeed, Medicare now requires all hospitals to publicly report a limited number of quality measures, but patient safety advocates say the federal data suffers from the Lake Wobegon-effect: just about everyone is above average, and consumers have a hard time making truly informed choices.
“Chances are you won’t find a hospital that stands out,” says David Hopkins, a senior advisor at the Pacific Business Group on Health, an employer group concerned about health care costs and quality.
Hopkins also sits on the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce, and he argues that Cal Hospital Compare uses a more rigorous, and ruthless, analysis than the Medicare report cards. That means hospitals that don’t do a good job stand out. “This is one of the problems in the industry,” Hopkins says. “The provider says, ‘Wait a minute, this is affecting my business.’”
Patient safety advocates insist the only way hospitals will become safer is through unflinching transparency. Indeed, Cal Hospital Compare publishes a hospital’s ICU mortality rate, measure of how frequently people die in a hospital’s intensive care unit. The measure is adjusted for the mix of patients.
Hopkins says publicly reporting ICU mortality has gotten hospitals to pay attention. “We’ve been reporting the ICU mortality rates for the last three years, and they’ve been getting steadily better, by about 1 percentage point per year, and that has saved a lot of lives. Thousands of lives, as a matter of fact.”
The board of directors of the task force which includes consumer advocates, health insurance companies, hospitals and employers, will meet in the coming weeks to make a final decision on the future of the reporting effort. But with the California Hospital Association withdrawing its support, it seems unlikely that Cal Hospital Compare can continue.
Jan Emerson-Shea from the hospital association says nearly all of the measures, except ICU mortality, will continue to be reported either to Medicare or to California state regulators.
A new state law requires health officials to collect and publish their own hospital quality data, but there’s widespread agreement that the reports are so unreliable, they can’t be used to compare hospitals.
There is plenty of data, to be sure, says Betsy Imholz, a longtime safety expert with Consumers Union, but it’s not necessarily useful. “We’re at a really critical crossroads in health care quality and safety,” Imholz says. “The public needs the data. And we need it uniform and we need it really accessible and understandable.” If consumers are being asked to take responsibility for their health care, she says, they should at least know what they’re getting.
– Provided by Kaiser Health News.
Report: British public workers get higher pay hikes than private sector employees
London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – The pay gap between public and private sector employees in Britain widened further from 2008 to 2010, according to a study by British think tank Policy Exchange released over the weekend.
According to the report, a government sports and leisure assistant got an average pay hike of 13.5 percent during the three-year period, while a worker in a private company with a similar job go only an average pay hike of 12.2 percent.
Worse off were private school teachers who even got a 12 percent pay cut, while their public school counterparts received a salary adjustment of 2.1 percent.
Reckoned on an hourly basis, the hourly rate of a mid-income public employee was $20.31 (GBP 13.54), while that of a private sector worker was about $15.09 (GBP 10.06).
However, certain private sector high earners such as bankers, football players and television stars have salaries that were much higher than their public counterparts.
Union officials however are downplaying the Policy Exchange study citing the return of the culture of large city bonuses, while council staff are going through job reductions.
Private company workers, though are expected to catch up because state workers’ pay is frozen until 2008 as Britain reduces its budget deficit and debt. Chancellor George Osborne has sought at least a two-year nationwide wage freeze for public workers and to reform pension systems for state workers.
The only exception to the rule of the larger pay hike was in Yorkshire. The pay disparity was particularly felt in Wales and the northwest.
According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 20.4 percent of U.K.’s population are employed in the public sector. The number had actually gone down from 21.1 percent and is expected to be further reduced because of the coalition government’s austerity measures.
View full post on Labor Stories
Report: 1.5 million Britons collected welfare, refused work in past 10 years
London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – A report released Thursday by the Department for Work and Pensions found that about 1.5 million Britons abused the country’s welfare system the past decade by claiming welfare payments, but refusing work.
According to the report, about 750,000 of them were given sanctions and had their benefits cuts because they refused to follow regulations that would help them get jobs. Another 177,000 got Jobseeker’s Allowance and turned down offers, 444,000 more quit their work voluntarily and filed for Jobseeker’s Allowance and 123,000 were sanctioned because they claimed allowance after they were fired because of misconduct.
Employment Minister Chris Grayling said because of these abuses of Britain’s welfare system, the coalition government will impose tougher rules. Among the regulations the government is considering is to introduce fixed-term cuts in benefits beginning at three months and going up to three years for Britons who repeatedly refuse to obey regulations.
Another investigation the DWP initiated is on Britons receiving welfare, but who have moved overseas to warmer countries such as Spain and Thailand, or other western nations such as the U.S. and Sweden.
The department is also running after relatives who claim benefits of dead welfare recipients, those who have unreported assets such as property, savings or even yachts and those with exaggerated disability.
Minister for Welfare Reform Lord Freud estimated the cost to taxpayers for welfare payments to Britons living overseas at $99 million (GBP 66 million) in 2009.
View full post on Labor Stories
Bad Credit Loan – Loans To Repair Defective Credit Status With Loans
If you are consulting lenders for loans, first question would arise regarding your credit status, but not in case of a bad-credit loan. Lenders providing such loans easily accept your recent credit status and will not hesitate offering you loans. Bad credit personal loans cater to the needs of taking personal loans as well as help in healing blemished credit rating. So that means, even if with a poor credit status, your requests for personal loans can be approved. Dual benefits of these loans include helping borrowers to handle their financial crisis and giving chances to recreate a good credit status once again.
How to Strengthen Deformed Credit Status with a Loan?
With wide range of personal loans made available for bad credit scorers by several lenders, you can easily find an appropriate loan for bad credit. Not just personal loan, you can also manage a bad credit refinance loan, bad credit mortgage or a bad credit auto loan that may complements your requirement. You may also possibly secure a lower interest rate with the loan for bad credit you are taking. Interest rates of loans for people with bad credit depend on various aspects attached to the loans offered.
Determining Interest Rates of Bad Credit Loan
The interest rates can be higher or lower for a bad-credit loan depending on borrower’s credit rating, involvement of collaterals, income structure of borrowers’, involvement of additional securities like down payment in the scenario and the loan amounts taken. Obviously, lenders can easily provide personal loans for bad credit if the loans are somehow secured. If borrowers use their collaterals like home or ready for down payments, lenders know that the loan payments will not likely to be defaulted.
How Collaterals Can Reduce Interest Rates of Bad Credit Loans
A bad-credit loan secured with collaterals like home or property is usually available at reduced rates. These loans are charged with much lower interest rates than unsecured personal loans. Usually, the interest rates of secured loans for bad credit can be higher than standard mortgage loans offered. However, if the value of the property used as pledge for loans is higher than the loan amount offered, interest rates of the bad-credit loans will be lowered. Repayment term of a bad credit loan vary depending on purpose of the loans taken, however the term ranges from 6 to 8 years.
Debtips is the most comprehensive resource on Debt Consolidation Loan, Bankruptcy, Mortgage and Credit. It is just the right channel to make you finance literate and also helps in managing your personal finances. Visit Debtips [http://www.debtips.com] and find all the information on
A Credit Score [http://www.debtips.com/Credit/Credit-Score.aspx] is a statistical calculation of the credit information obtained in a consumer’s credit report. Bad Credit comes about from making late payments, missing payments. Bad Credit Loan [http://www.debtips.com/Credit/Bad-Credit-Loan.aspx] helps in recovering from bad credit.
Author: James Arther
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Canada duty
Reverse mortgages can be risky & costly for seniors
New report highlights concerns about the growing reverse mortgage market and the need for stronger oversight
View full post on Consumer Protection Stories
UK growth tipped to slow in 2011
The UK economy will will grow by less than expected next year, a report by the British Chambers of Commerce predicts.
View full post on All Stories
Personal Loans When You Have Subprime Credit In Your Report
Many lenders will give you money although you have less than stellar credit. But there are some rules you need to follow before getting a personal loan for poor credit. One of the issues you’re facing when it comes to getting a loan with bad credit is that the vast majority of people in the United States have goodor excellent credit. You have to go up against these folks for the cash they have available to loan. This is not impossible of course but if you have bad credit, your job is going to be harder. The Familiar Story You begin college with your first credit cards in hand not really understanding the pitfalls that overspending can cause. You use your cards whenever you have to to get the necessary things for school like expenses. Over time, those few little extra expenses that don’t seem like much add up. These are the ones for entertainment and social things that you may want to avoid but your credit cards make them easy to buy without thinking about it.
You may even get two or three more credit cards as time goes by to keep up with your lifestyle. By the end of College you wind up with not only student loan debt but also the big credit card obligations. The job you are able to get is not quite as high paying as you thought it would be and you have to choose between meeting your needs and making payments. Eventually, your credit score and report starts to head downhill. All of a sudden you need to borrow. But, instead of being able to get top tier rates, you end up having to get a loan for poor credit. These costs associated with these are always higher and banks are going to be a bit more wary of you as a borrower. Some Things You Can Do To Improve Your Chances Add a Co-Signer – This can be an a fast solution, especially if that person has a solid credit history. Talk to SpecializedBanks – Find good listings of banks who specialize in people with credit issues. There are fewer of these currently but they are out there. Take Steps To Fix Your Credit Report – You should be doing this anyway but taking action now to fix your credit can look better to potential lenders.
Spain sells bonds, but yields rise: report
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Spain sold 3.654 billion euros ($4.943 billion) in 10- and 30-year bonds, but was forced to pay higher yields than two months ago as worries about fiscal problems on the periphery of the euro zone push up borrowing costs. The Spanish Treasury offered 3 billion to 4 billion euros of 10- and 30-year bonds. The government paid an average yield of 4.615% on the 10-year bond, up from 4.144% at a September auction, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The 30-year bond auction produced an average yield of 5.488% versus 5.077% in September. The 10-year auction produced a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.84, versus 2.32 in September, the report said. The ratio for the 30-year auction was 2.05 versus 2.10 in September. The euro was up 0.6% versus the dollar at $1.3633.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
View full post on All Stories
Egypt Plagued by Lack of Statistics Data
Cairo, Egypt (TML) – How many Egyptians are there? Do they have enough hospitals and doctors to serve them? How many kilometers of paved roads cover the country? How many children will start school next year?
National statistics are the foundation of government policy and planning. But the quality of Egypt’s statistical data is so poor that officials are in many cases driving blindfolded, a government think tank says.
“Information Gaps in Egyptian Statistics and the Quality of Basic Data,” a report released by the Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), argues that policy makers are unable to use locally published data to analyze and devise social and economic policies.
“We asked researchers, businessmen and decision makers whether the information they receive suits their needs,” Muhammad Ramadan, executive director of IDSC, told The Media Line. “The producers of statistics always say there is no problem, but clearly there is.”
Egypt is ruled by a sprawling bureaucracy organized in 37 ministries and scores more agencies, but the armies of officials often ail to deliver on basic services. The World Economic Forum annual competitiveness report ranks Egypt 79th among 139 countries worldwide for excessive regulation and 68th for government transparency.
The report’s authors questioned 51 local experts in fields such as economics, management and statistics working in both the private and government sectors. It was the first time anyone questioned the users of statistical information, rather than the people who produce them.
The experts criticized not only the low quality of available data, but also the legal and bureaucratic difficulties in obtaining official information.
The information gap in Egypt runs very deep indeed. According to the report, no reliable data exist on Egypt’s population; with some government studies claiming there are as few as 80 million and others estimating it at 85 million. The World Bank, for instance, claims that Egypt’s population is 83 million, while the United Nations World Health Organization puts it at just under 77 million.
The Egyptian health sector seems to be a statistical black hole. No reliable information exists on the spread of disease throughout the country, on the prevalence of public health risks such as AIDS, or the effectiveness of government-funded health services, the report notes.
In many cases, experts must rely on data provided by international organizations such as the UN, since official Egyptian statistics are often kept from the public on national security grounds. Sometimes, government clerks demand exorbitant amounts of money for disclosing information, the report said.
“We believe in evidence-based policy making,” Muhammad Ramadan the Media Line. “Without reliable information, it is impossible to make good decisions.”
The new report revealed three major information deficiencies: it is often out of date, its quality is low and the public has limited access to it.
“We should treat information production as any other industry,” Ramadan said. “The number of companies producing statistics in Egypt is very small. Government should encourage the private sector and universities to produce more statistics.”
Walid Kazziha, a political scientist at the American University in Cairo, said he wasn’t surprised by the finding, which he said indicated a deep-rooted cultural problem.
“Egyptian society is in a deep crisis,” Kazziha told The Media Line. “Having a government without statistics means we could end up with a semi-failed state.”
Kazziha said government policies were often flawed, not only because of bad data but also because people don’t provide reliable information to government survey takers. He added that Egyptians didn’t give much weight to statistical information.
“People need to become more responsible,” he said. “They need a sense of purpose and more satisfaction with their job. We don’t have this in Egypt right now.”
However, not all sectors in Egypt suffered from information deficiency, Kazziha said.
“The security apparatus seams to be very aware and alert,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have a 9/11 in Egypt.”
View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories
Bush’s Book: He’s ‘at Peace’ With Decisions He Made
The Drudge Report has gotten a peek at George W. Bush’s upcoming book, describing it as a “strikingly personal work” in which he largely avoids taking shots at critics (and Obama) and describes how he returned to his faith in God “time and time again” on everything from 9/11 to…
View full post on All Stories
