Weather Forecasting Accuracy Joins Medicare Value Based Purchasing Program.

Baltimore, MD  -  Just days after Medicare announced their historic timeline for shifting fee-for-service  to alternative payment models that focus on quality and value and just hours after New York meteorologists inadvertently shut down New York City with their failed Blizzard of the Century forecast,  the Obama administration announced the addition of weather forecasting accuracy to a value added payment mix used to determine how much doctors and hospitals are paid.Bad weather forecasting now linked to Medicare penalties."After careful consideration, we have determined that doctors and hospitals should be punished for inaccurate weather forecasts that affect the safety and wellbeing of our Medicare seniors and we plan to hold them accountable," said HHS secretary Sylvia Burwell during a conference call with reporters. New York public transportation was ordered shut down by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio after meteorologists predicted several feet of snow would wreak havoc on the city.  That forecast proved grossly inaccurate and upset millions of residents caught without a way to travel about the city.Many New Yorker residents were thrilled with the federal government's call to action.  "It's about time those rich doctors suffered for these ridiculous weather forecasts day after day. Those people have no idea how hard it is to plan a day around bad weather forecasts," said Tom, an uninsured street vendor  who gets his healthcare from a char...
Source: The Happy Hospitalist - Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Authors: Source Type: blogs