Professional Documents
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Safetynethospitals
Safetynethospitals
DSH payments are meant to supplement hospitals that care for a disproportionately high amount
of vulnerable patients (Bachrach, Braslow, & Karl, 2012). This is where the definition of
vulnerable patients can have a profound impact on a hospitals ability to maintain financial
solvency. States are allowed to make their own definition of vulnerable population which can
make the compensation to one hospital drastically different than similar hospital in another state.
The Affordable Care Act, while making insurance accessible to a larger segment of our
population, will still leave some without access to care, This is why the funding of safety net
hospitals is still relevant and needs to be streamlined so that we continue to provide this much
needed service to patients who will otherwise be left without any ability to access care.
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References
A policy framework for targeting financially vulnerable safety net hospitals [Analysis of the Joint
Distribution of Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments]. (n.d.). Retrieved from Office
of Health Policy: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/02/DSH/ch2.htm
Bachrach, D., Braslow, L., & Karl, A. (2012). Toward a high performance health care system for
vulnerable populations: Funding for safety-net hospitals. Retrieved from
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2012/Mar/VulnerablePopulations.aspx