As payment to medical-care providers shifts away from fee-for-service medicine and rewards quality over volume, hospital admissions that rose after millions more Americans gained health coverage may soon begin to slow.
The name of the game is outreach to patients and making sure they get the right care, in the right place and at the right time. Private insurers and the Medicare program for seniors don’t reward hospitals financially under reforms woven into the Affordable Care Act and health plan contracts with providers.
