Hospitals chart ways to boost care, funding under ACA

Hospitals are getting creative when it comes to meeting tough new mandates in the Affordable Care Act to improve care and increase patient satisfaction — and they're getting paid more as a result. Under an ACA program, the federal government gives money to hospitals that deliver better care, rather than just paying them for procedures covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Called the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program, it aims to increase quality care and shrink the number of patients who die from mistakes. As part of the program, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pays hospitals for infection prevention, successful surgeries, low readmission rates and patient satisfaction scores. The CMS bases funding on both achievement and yearly improvement.