HomeCare Editors’ Top 5: Week of April 18

Medicare “Hospital Star Rating” May Correspond to Patient Outcomes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been letting patients grade their hospital experiences, and those “patient experience scores” may give some insight into a hospital’s health outcomes, a new study suggests. (Katheryn Doyle/Reuters)

Start Small for Big Home Health Star Ratings
It’s only natural that home health care companies would want to do everything possible to boost their star ratings, given that they are being scrutinized by potential patients and referral sources. (Mary Kate Nelson/Home Health Care News)

Medicare Seeks Savings and Innovation with Switch in Doctors’ Pay
The Obama administration is recruiting as many as 20,000 primary care doctors for an initiative it hopes will change the way physicians get paid and provide care. (Alision Kodjack/NPR Health Shots)

Home Health Lashes Back Against Preauthorization Proposal
A recent proposal that would require home health agencies to receive prior authorization before caring for patients has been met with an onslaught of backlash by the industry. The period for home health agencies to submit comments on the preauthorization proposal from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ended Tuesday with close to 250 comments from industry affiliates. (Amy Baxter/Home Health Care News)

Senior Care Workers Flee to McDonald’s for Higher Pay
The homecare industry is no stranger to high employee turnover rates. In Texas, nurses are being lured away from their jobs in home health and skilled nursing to join a different industry entirely: fast food. (Mary Kate Nelson/Home Health Care News)