With Monday being October 1, it means the first big changes to health care by the Affordable Care Act.
Hospitals will be fined if a patient is re-admitted within 30 days.
The 30-day rule will apply to patients that suffer from either heart attacks, have other heart failures, or pneumonia.
These three illnesses are the most prevalent for hospitals and expensive for Medicare.
Hospital administrators we spoke with Monday say the point of all this is to put a focus on preventative medicine.
Ideally, this keeps patients more informed and saves them money in the process.
"It's a governmental recognition in their own way that prevention is a better path than just long-term acute care,” Dr. Gary Winfield of LewisGale said.
All of this is meant to benefit patients, and some hospitals are feeling the pinch to place a bigger emphasis on preventative care medicine.
We spoke with folks over at Carilion as well, and they say growing their network of clinics has helped them prepare for their new challenges.
"Is it fair? Well nothing is fair. I think that we all have a responsibility to improve the health care of our patients and this is one way of doing that. And we've been preparing for that for some years," Dr. Ralph Whatley of Carilion said.
Both LewisGale and Carilion feel they are ready for these changes because they do have a strong network of preventative care facilities in place.
Remember, the fine for hospitals only applies for re-admission for those three illnesses, not for checkups.
LewisGale and Carilion feel like they will be fine, but some of the smaller hospitals may struggle because they don't have the resources to promote preventative medicine.
Another worry is that patients ultimately make their own decisions after they are discharged, so hospitals have no control over whether or not they actually take their medicine or have the proper support systems to stay healthy once they leave the hospital.
Here is a table of how the two main Roanoke-area hospitals compare to the national average for re-admittance rates for patients who suffered from heart attacks, heart failure, or pneumonia.
(A lower percentage is better):
National avg. Roanoke Memorial Hospital LewisGale Medical Center
Heart attacks -- 19.7% 18.5% 22.5%
Heart failure -- 24.7% 22.2% 21.8%
Pneumonia -- 18.5% 19.5% 18.2%
