Earlier this month, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the nonpartisan federal agency charged with evaluating Medicare payment issues and making recommendations to Congress, issued its annual March 2013 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, a detailed, 435-page document. The report concluded that in total, hospitals lose money on Medicare: The overall Medicare margin for hospitals declined from -4.5 percent in 2010 to -5.8 percent in 2011. In addition, MedPAC projects the overall Medicare margin in 2013 will be -6 percent. However, the report also notes that while Medicare payments are currently less than costs for the average hospital, it is possible for some hospitals to make money on Medicare: The median efficient hospital generated a positive 2 percent Medicare margin in 2011. This begs the question: How can a hospital become more efficient? Data analytics is essential to drive performance management in support of the quest for greater efficiency. QlikView Discovery is poised to deliver that value.
