HealthLeaders Media's Top 12 Online Stories of 2011

6.Top 12 Uncertainties Hovering Over Healthcare
If ever there was a year in which "anything could happen" in healthcare, 2012 just might be it. Numerous major decisions, regulations, and policy rollouts loom, including how severely physicians' pay will be cut and whether the Affordable Care Act itself is a constitutional document. We look at a dozen potential game changers.

7.Readmission Rates Revealed for 292 Worst Hospitals
A mention next to the word "worse" in one of the latest Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' HospitalCompare data files is the kind of achievement no hospital aspires to. The list highlights some 292 hospitals whose 30-day readmission rates are the highest in the nation in at least one of three disease categories.

8.Fifteen HCAHPS Buzzwords Every Provider Should Know
The value-based purchasing sweepstakes race is on. It's a national contest to see which acute care teams can score highest in patient experience metrics as evaluated by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. Knowing the lingo is essential.

9.Four Unpleasant Predictions for 2012
HealthLeaders Media research sheds light on how financial leaders are responding to this year’s challenges, and what problems are looming next.