====== Affordable Care Act ======


With the passage of the [[Affordable Care Act]] in [[2010]], healthcare metrics and patient [[outcome]]s, especially [[mortality rate]]s, are increasingly emphasized as integral measures of overall [[quality of care]] and [[hospital reimbursement]]s
((Hammers R, Anzalone S, Sinacore J, Origitano TC. Neurosurgical mortality
rates: what variables affect mortality within a single institution and within a
national database? J Neurosurg. 2010;112(2):257-26.))
((Spurgeon A, Hiser B, Hafley C, Litofsky NS. Does improving medical record
documentation better reflect severity of illness in neurosurgical patients? Neurosurgery.
2011;58:155-163.))
((Zalatimo O, Ranasinghe M, Harbaugh RE, Iantosca M. Impact of
improved documentation on an academic neurosurgical practice. J Neurosurg.
2014;120(3):756-763.))
((Reyes C, Greenbaum A, Porto C, Russell JC. Implementation of a clinical
documentation improvement curriculum improves quality metrics and hospital
charges in an Academic Surgery Department. J Am Coll Surg. 2017;224:301-309.)).

The comprehensive Healthcare reform law enacted in March [[2010]] (sometimes known as ACA, PPACA, or “Obamacare”).

The law has 3 primary goals:

Make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.
Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the federal poverty level. (Not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs.)
Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of Healthcare generally.