Health care quality is a topic that has received considerable attention in recent years. There are few services as important and as expensive as health care. As the U.S. population ages and develops diseases such as cancer, a significant portion of the costs will be borne by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). To combat this problem, CMS has taken steps to reduce payments and apply penalties to hospitals for readmissions within 30 days of discharge from a prior hospitalization. Technology, particularly telehealth, will play an important role in reducing costs and improving the quality of healthcare for consumers and payers. Furthermore, it is expected that the same sanctions will be applied in the near future to hospitals treating cancer patients. A research proposal including a brief review of the study background, hypotheses, and design will be explored. A Matter of Time In reviewing the available literature on the topic of telehealth and 30-day readmissions, it is notable that considerable attention has been given to patients with heart disease, 30-day readmission rates as a measure of quality of care and telehealth in general. I did not find any articles specifically related to the use of telehealth in the cancer population as it relates to readmission rates. I propose that the same consideration be given to cancer patients admitted to hospital because of their cancer and their cancer treatments. This examination must be carried out for two reasons. First, it has the potential to reduce the psychological and financial stress of cancer patients and their caregivers due to multiple hospital admissions. Second, according to CMS, penalties known as "payment adjustment" to hospital ... middle of paper ... cancer patients in a hospital over a one-year period. Keeping this data in mind, it would be possible to include all study participants in the videoconference intervention and then compare it to the claims data. This method would practically be problematic because it would represent a huge administrative burden to confirm that patients obtained through billing and claims data were not admitted to a hospital outside the study hospital. ConclusionWorks cited Blessing, J. and Forister, J. (2013). Introduction to research and medical literature for health professionals (Third.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). (April 30, 2014). Readmissions Reduction Program. Accessed May 10, 2014, from http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AcuteInpatientPPS/Readmissions-Reduction-Program.html