Headlines Archive for August 2010

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8/31

Republicans who question whether Don Berwick could have a conflict of interest if medical-device companies or health plans helped make his generous compensation package possible

8/31

The American Medical Association and state medical societies are supporting a proposal by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on what expenditures insurers can consider medical spending under the new health law

8/31

Almost 2,000 employers and unions will be eligible to submit retirees’ medical bills for reimbursement by a $5 billion federal fund, the Obama administration will disclose Tuesday

8/31

CompuGroup Medical AG has today entered into an agreement for the purchase of 100% of the shares in Visionary Healthware Group

8/31

Healthcare consolidation has begun to attract the attention of anti-trust officials, journalists, and other watchdogs, and the added scrutiny may create a headwind for hospitals looking to make a deal.

8/31

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a radio-frequency identification tool that tracks instruments and sponges during surgical procedures.

8/31

The U.S. Department of Labor forecasts that the two fields projected to have the most jobs are technology and healthcare. In the developing area of biomedical and health informatics, you can get the best of both worlds.

8/31

The FDA approved a first-of-its-kind technology: a tiny telescope implanted inside the eye.  The company wouldn’t estimate total costs connected with the procedure but said the device itself costs $15,000.

8/31

The Obama administration on Monday named the first two companies empowered to approve the electronic health record (EHR) systems soon to be required of all providers.

8/30

Nine out of 10 physicians polled in a new study said passwords and the length of time it takes to access electronic health records “negatively impact” job satisfaction. A full 60 percent said it’s a major factor in whether they like their work.

8/30

There is growing interest among employers in improving employee access to health care and offering on-site services aimed at improving overall health and productivity.

8/30

CMS reminded healthcare providers, health plans, clearinghouses, and vendors about looming compliance deadlines for new diagnosis and procedure codes, and updated standards for electronic healthcare transactions

8/30

Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand.

8/30

As state and local governments push to get employees to pick up more health care costs, some employees are pushing back.

8/30

FRUSTRATED by exploding health care costs, many firms are encouraging employees to enroll in high-deductible health insurance plans linked to tax-exempt health savings accounts.

8/30

Five months after the adoption of the sweeping new health-care law, momentum is building to modify and possibly repeal one of its funding sources.

8/30

Only 11.9% of U.S. hospitals had adopted at least basic electronic medical records by last year, and only about 2% had done enough to qualify for future government financial incentives, a study finds.

8/30

New York-based startup OR International LLC is exporting a higher-quality American brand of healthcare throughout the world, with a primary focus on improving patient treatment

8/30

Concierge medicine – is it possible to practice in a way that reconciles concierge medicine with all the ethical concerns?

8/30

HealthSpring, Inc. announced Friday that it will pay $545 million to purchase Bravo Health, Inc., a privately held operator of Medicare Advantage plans

8/30

Five months after the adoption of the sweeping new health care law, momentum is building to modify and possibly repeal one of its funding sources.

8/30

The VA is participating in pilot to test medical data exchange through the Nationwide Health Information Network in partnership with the Indiana Health Information Exchange

8/30

Ebix, Inc., a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance industry, has signed a merger agreement with Atlanta based A.D.A.M., Inc.

8/27

Amid angst that the U.S. economy might be slowing, health care—a sector usually billed as resistant to economic downturns—is feeling the effects

8/27

There’s bad news and good news about hospital-acquired infection (HAI) trends in the U.S.

8/27

A Michigan judge heard arguments in two of three lawsuits filed by public-school unions and retirees who opposed a new law that for the first time required them to contribute toward their health-care benefits.

8/27

Private-equity firm Bain Capital LLC is expected to acquire Air Medical Group Holdings, the largest independent provider of U.S. air medical services, for almost $1 billion

8/27

CMS issued a final regulation to protect against fraudulent medical equipment and supplies vendors – the rule will require suppliers to maintain proper ordering documentation and remain open at least 30 hours a week

8/27

Leading UK firm Telehealth Solutions has been awarded a framework agreement for providing telecare, telehealth and telecoaching by Buying Solutions, the national procurement partner for all UK public services

8/27

In the medical home, doctors are also supposed to be able to hand off some of the less specialized — the idea is to have everyone “practicing at the top of their license”

8/27

The Medicare cuts can be used to improve the government’s capacity to finance benefits in the future or to pay for another entitlement. But they can’t be used for both

8/26

Four Part Series on Aging: (1) Seniors Finding Long-Term Care Close To Home; (2) High-Tech Aging: Tracking Seniors’ Every Move; (3) Wired Homes Keep Tabs On Aging Parents; (4) Building Homes To Age In

8/26

Under the new health care overhaul law, doctors who refer Medicare and Medicaid patients to in-house imaging machines must disclose in writing that they own the equipment.

8/26

Preventing surgical errors requires more patient involvement and particular care by providers in creating checklists, systems, and routines

8/26

California passed legislation creating a health-insurance marketplace, a move set to be echoed across the country as states take steps to implement federal law.

8/26

After months of being pummeled by Republican attacks on the new healthcare law, the Obama administration and its allies are striking back in an attempt to stem public disaffection with the health overhaul

8/26

After consumer marketing, cultivating lasting relationships with physicians is considered to be a hospital marketer’s greatest task

8/26

61% of employers said they plan to offer consumer-directed plans in 2011. Employers know that CDHP enrollees are “healthier” than average and that they tend to sip rather than guzzle health services.

8/26

California regulators on Wednesday approved WellPoint Inc’s plan to raise rates for individual health insurance policies by an average of 14 percent,

8/26

Under section 2718, insurers that fail to achieve these “medical loss ratio” targets must rebate the difference between their actual expenditures and the target to their customers

8/25

Healthsense, Inc., a leading provider of next-generation wireless sensors and remote monitoring solutions for the senior care market is pleased to announce the close of a growth capital financing round

8/25

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. insurer, and McKesson Corp., the largest drug distributor, are vying for billions of dollars in added sales by bulking up their information-technology units.

8/25

More than $22 million will go to the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, which supports improvements in healthcare quality for any of 1,300 critical access hospitals, defined as hospitals with no more than 25 beds

8/25

A plan by Medicare to try to make it simpler for consumers to pick drug coverage could force 3 million seniors to switch plans next year whether they like it or not

8/24

U.S. funding of embryonic stem cell research approved by the President was halted by a federal judge who ruled that the work violates a law passed to bar the destruction of human embryos

8/24

The new analysis found that 37 counties in California had uninsured rates above the statewide average of 24.3%

8/24

Legislators have begun to recognize the medical, humanitarian and economic value of helping terminally ill patients and their families navigate treatment options as they approach the end of life.

8/24

If a patient participates in the trial, their health plan will stop covering all the other doctor visits, hospital stays, tests and treatment related to treatment

8/24

Researchers are proposing traumatic brain injury be redefined, managed and reimbursed by insurers as a chronic disease to better monitor and, if possible, address those possible after-effects.

8/24

The new studies, which appear in the latest issue of the American Journal of Hypertension, represent efforts to provide scientific guidance for doctors treating high blood pressure.

8/24

Last week’s disappointing news that another Alzheimer’s disease drug failed in late stage clinical trials raises an important question for policymakers: What’s Plan B?

8/24

The surge that worries is Alzheimer’s disease: In 2050, 13.5 million Americans may have it, at an annual health-care cost of more than $1 trillion, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

8/24

Text messages and cellphones are being tested as a way to remind patients to take anti-HIV therapies, get tested for STDs, get some exercise and use sunscreen, among other health behaviors.

8/24

Some hospital emergency rooms have begun advertising how long the wait time for care will be, using text messages or online billboards

8/24

“Mark my words, several years from now, you’re going to look back and say, ‘Well, that wasn’t so bad after all,’” Baucus said.

8/23

Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrated the launch this week of an ambitious “telehealth” system that will use a dedicated broadband network to link hospitals and clinics throughout the country’s most populous stat

8/23

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius could find herself pitted between top Democrats on Capitol Hill and state insurance commissioners over a key section of the health care overhaul

8/23

Under the new health care overhaul law, doctors who refer Medicare and Medicaid patients to in-house imaging machines must disclose in writing that they own the equipment

8/23

The Obama administration is rewriting new rules on medical privacy after an outpouring of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress

8/23

If regulations deem that only the treatment judged most effective is paid for, “my concern is that .. we begin to limit what people are willing to do in terms of developing new products,” Cosgrove said

8/23

Healthcare, despite many examples to the contrary, is still largely a mom-and-pop business compared to say, manufacturing or retail

8/23

Most insured patients don’t directly bear the cost of care, and even if they did, it’s nearly impossible to find and compare the price of a given procedure – so most don’t bother

8/23

WHY are Americans getting fatter and fatter? The simple explanation is that we eat too much junk food and spend too much time in front of screens

8/23

In 2014, the Medicaid expansion also will help the homeless by enabling agencies to divert resources to other services such as finding housing and jobs

8/20

Complete Genomics announced today that it has raised $39 million in its Series E funding round.

8/20

Key White House allies are dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit, and instead stressing a promise to “improve it”

8/20

New Plans For Uninsured Off To Slow Start

8/20

The Federal Trade Commission came down hard last week on scammers passing off medical discount plans as health insurance plans

8/20

Although the trustees 2010 report represents the official projection for Medicare, its actuaries simultaneously published an unusual dissent suggesting a more likely alternate scenario than the one endorsed by the trustees.

8/20

By telling governors they have until Sept. 24 to ask for additional Medicaid funds, Sebelius is forcing the hands of Republicans who have been vocal about their distaste for additional deficit spending

8/19

A survey of big employers finds they expect their health-care costs to rise nearly 9% next year and plan to share some of that burden with employees via higher premiums and higher out-of-pocket limits

8/19

If the U.S. is ever to improve rural America’s access to quality healthcare, the one thing it must provide—just about everyone agrees—is broadband Internet access

8/19

CVS Caremark’s Behavioral Change Research Partnership was launched last year to study how behavioral economics — the science behind the idea of using beneficial “nudges” to help consumers improve their decisions

8/19

But physicians understand that—like them or not—rating sites are here to say and that the reviews contain valuable insight that can be used to improve care

8/19

Patients diagnosed with incurable lung cancer who were given palliative care usually reserved for people close to death had a better quality of life and lived longer than those getting standard treatment

8/19

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra at the UC Davis Cancer Center on Tuesday to announce the launch of the country’s largest “telehealth” system

8/19

Health carriers expect IT improvements on the provider side to lower healthcare costs by reducing care redundancies and readmissions.

8/19

North Carolina hospital and physician leaders have announced plans to create a statewide healthcare information network to facilitate the adoption of meaningful use.

8/19

According to a report released last week from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), diabetes is costing Americans $83 billion a year in hospital fees — 23 percent of total hospital spending

8/18

When the University of Michigan Health System launched a program to inform patients of harmful medical errors and offer compensation, legal claims dropped more than 25%.

8/18

A seismic shift in the U.S. health insurance industry will present unprecedented challenges and opportunities for the health care payer CIO’s

8/18

More than 85% of the uninsured in Massachusetts were between the ages of 19-64; more likely to be male, young and single; a member of a racial or ethnic minority; or a non-citizen and lack proficiency in English

8/18

Analysts expect the recently signed health-care overhaul law to spur an increase in research comparing drugs and devices, areas where both Medco and United BioSource have reach.

8/18

Late last week, the FDA received a letter from Susan B. Komen for the Cure, the pink ribbon-bedecked juggernaut, demanding the agency maintain its approval of Genentech’s Avastin

8/18

If there’s an American precedent for the medical central planning of ObamaCare, it’s the Food and Drug Administration. Witness a looming FDA ruling that may deplete the drug arsenal for terminally ill cancer patients.

8/18

Sound Physicians is part of a growing trend in medicine that’s sometimes called the “hospitalist” movement

8/18

Pacific Biosciences Inc. followed the lead of rival Complete Genomics Inc. on Monday by filing for an initial public offering that will fund the launch of a new, high-speed DNA sequencing technology.

8/18

The health insurance industry on Tuesday criticized state regulators for adopting a narrow category for what health plans can count as medical care and quality improvements when calculating their medical loss ratios.

8/18

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners approved Tuesday morning a preliminary outline of what insurers will be able to count as medical costs

8/18

High-speed Internet connections now make it possible to bring a doctor’s expertise to patients in far-off places, if those places are connected

8/17

Royal Philips Electronics today announced that it has joined Gilde Healthcare III – a new venture capital fund focusing on innovative early and growth stage healthcare technology companies in Europe and the US

8/17

ResCare Inc. received a proposal from Toronto-based investment firm to buy the stake of company it doesn’t already own, valuing the provider of home care to the elderly and people with disabilities at $365.4 million

8/17

Forty-five states and the District of Columbia will each get $1 million in federal funds to monitor proposed health insurance premium hikes in their jurisdictions, and take action against unreasonable increases

8/17

Cancer is the world’s top “economic killer” as well as its likely leading cause of death, the American Cancer Society contends in a new report

8/17

Diabetics who undergo weight-loss surgery need fewer medications to control the condition and have lower health-care costs after the procedure, a study found.

8/17

The study finds that “Americans, who face higher out-of-pocket health care costs, have reduced their routine medical care” much more than people in Britain, Canada, France and Germany.

8/17

A new report concludes that EHRs will only be able to provide about a third of the data requirements for Stage 1 quality measures outlined in the final rule.

8/17

Among the uninsured, 7.4 percent made two or more visits to an E.R., but so did 5.1 percent of people with private insurance. Medicaid recipients were the heaviest users of E.R.’s, with 15.3 percent of them making two or more visits during the year.

8/17

Democrats, running scared in an election year, are trying to overcome older people’s mistrust of the new health care law

8/17

Investing in an electronic medical records system was not something many physicians late in their careers were probably thinking about a few years ago

8/17

The biggest losers in federal health care reform — the country’s physician-owned specialty hospitals — are on pins and needles

8/16

Ingenix, a leading health information technology and services company, today announced it is acquiring Axolotl, a leading provider of health information exchange (HIE) services

8/16

Hospitals have made huge strides against hospital-acquired infections caused by hospital-onset methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus)

8/16

Those who are afflicted with chronic conditions are less likely to have Internet access, according to data from Pew.

8/16

Faced with the need to review insurance rates and enforce a panoply of new rights granted to consumers, states are scrambling to make sure they have the necessary legal authority to carry out the responsibilities being placed on them by health care law.

8/16

With improved drug coverage under Medicare Part D, the use of antibiotics by beneficiaries—particularly brand name, new, and more expensive drugs—is on the upswing

8/16

Add Colorado to the list of states that are saying to ObamaCare: not here, thank you.

8/16

A group of Republican senators has introduced the ominously titled Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act. It would eliminate IPAB even before the panel comes into existence in 2014.

8/16

Insurers can seek a waiver from the government to keep their current limited plans if they can prove that offering better benefits would cause significant premium increases or force employers to drop or severely limit coverage

8/16

The House voted Tuesday to send money to the states – most of it to prevent the states from cutting off health benefits for millions. If that doesn’t strike you as strange, perhaps you weren’t paying attention to last year’s health care debate.

8/16

At least a dozen major drug and device makers are under investigation in a broadening bribery inquiry into whether the companies made illegal payments to doctors and health officials in foreign countries.

8/16

Pharmacy company Medco Health Solutions Inc. said it will buy closely held drug and device researcher United BioSource Corp. for about $730 million.

8/16

The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that the number of men and women in state and federal prisons age 55 and older grew 76 percent between 1999 and 20088

8/16

Are bigger health-care networks better or just creating a monopoly?

8/16

Nearly one in five hospitalizations in 2008 involved patients with diabetes, according to a federal report

8/16

How much more difficult will finding a primary care doctor become as a result of the recently passed health care reform legislation?

8/16

The federally funded risk pools offer subsidized coverage until 2014, when the broader state-run insurance exchanges are due to go into effect and insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

8/16

It’s a widespread belief that many hospitals and health systems won’t be able to make their necessary margins on essentially Medicare rates of reimbursement as healthcare reform takes hold, and they will close.

8/16

CGI Technologies is the first Recovery Audit Contractor to post issues approved by CMS. All but one of them comes as no surprise, says one regulatory affairs expert

8/13

The Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services lose more than $60 billion a year to scam artists, according to the non-profit Coalition Against Insurance Fraud – in what has become a massive black hole in government spending

8/13

CMS is readying a set electronic accounting and processing tools that will help authenticate, track and manage payments to health care providers participating in the federal meaningful use financial incentive program.

8/13

New study shows the use of IT in a group of California hospitals actually has resulted in higher costs, higher levels of nurse staffing and higher patient complications.

8/13

Emergency room nurse Erin Riley suffered bruises, scratches and a chipped tooth last year from trying to pull the clamped jaws of a psychotic patient off a doctor’s hand at a suburban Cleveland hospital

8/13

The University of California, Berkeley, won’t tell about 700 students the results of genetic tests performed on their saliva, after the state health department barred the institution from proceeding.

8/13

But a local hospital group says the fastest-growing part of what hospitals call “bad debt” – basically, uncollectible bills – is money owed by patients who have insurance

8/13

The new health overhaul law aims to end all annual dollar limits on health insurance policies by 2014. Federal regulators contend such limits can leave policyholders “virtually uninsured” for the rest of the year once caps are hit

8/13

Compliance by health insurers with the medical loss ratio provisions in the new healthcare reform law may cost those companies more than analysts have predicted,

8/13

What counts as a “federal tax” in insurer-land?  That’s the latest question facing regulators charged with turning the health-care overhaul law into actual rules.

8/13

Only in Washington could the government raid one entitlement program to finance a brand-new one and still claim that deficits have been reduced and entitlements have been reformed.

8/12

Lawmakers in most states have little control over healthcare premiums

8/12

There are about 2,000 mobile clinics in the United States. Advocates say the approach can help control the rising cost of health care by helping people with chronic diseases to stay out of the emergency room

8/12

Health plans will lobby lawmakers and regulators over the August recess for greater flexibility to avoid some provisions of the healthcare reform law

8/12

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the first “medical necessity review” audits for the recovery audit contractor (RAC) program

8/12

4 Good News Stories on hospital acquired infections, and a Bonus

8/12

Avoidable medical errors added $19.5 billion to the nation’s healthcare bill in 2008.  The report lists the 10 most expensive errors in healthcare settings.

8/12

Economic-stimulus funds for scientific research are becoming a political target for Republican skeptics who say they have identified some grants as evidence of wasteful spending.

8/12

“Roadmap for America’s Future,” is an unusually austere proposal to vanquish the federal debt by, among other things, partly dismantling Social Security and Medicare as they currently exist

8/12

True or false: The new health care law will cut Medicare benefits for seniors. It will slash Medicare payments to doctors. It will ration health care.

8/11

The European Medicines Agency has agreed to make available reports on possible side effects of drugs it has on file

8/11

A new generation of DNA tests for colon cancer seems likely to improve the detection both of cancers and of the precancerous polyps that precede them.

8/11

From a tiny eye telescope to microscopic health data on the surface of contact lenses to advances in cancer treatments, medical devices continue to get smaller and smaller

8/11

Aggressive, drug-resistant staph infections caught in hospitals or from medical treatment are becoming scarcer, another sign of progress in a prevention effort that has become a national public health priority

8/11

A second federal bill seeks to “clarify the application of EHR payment incentives” for multi-campus hospitals in the meaningful use subsidy requirements

8/11

The $26 billion legislation provides $16 billion for Medicaid and $10 billion to avert teacher layoffs. It is funded by cutting some food-stamp payments that were raised by the stimulus bill, and by limiting the foreign tax credits

8/10

A bill proposing to extend Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) financial incentives for e-health record use by mental health professionals has been introduced into the U.S. Senate, complementing similar legislation introduced in the U.S. House

8/10

Dialysis centers are about to get hit with financial penalties — up to 2 percent of their reimbursements — if they fail to reach certain quality benchmarks, starting in 2012

8/10

The National Health Services Corps has gotten an infusion of more than $1 billion to incentivize young primary-care physicians to practice in underserved areas – keeping the recruits once their service contracts are up will be the hard part

8/10

ACOs require a strong financial base and a degree of risk — that’s why doctors need hospitals as partners.  They also demand a broad range of providers — that’s why hospitals need to bolster their ranks with more doctors.

8/10

Thousands of nurses and geriatric specialists—many of them minorities—will be trained for the provider workforce under $159.1 million in federal grants under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

8/10

PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the reforms going into effect this year will have little to no impact on employer health costs

8/10

Pitney Bowes is among several companies offering employee support — like financial and legal resources, counseling on hospice and palliative care, and flexible working arrangements

8/10

Medical errors and the problems they can cause — including bed sores, post-op infections and implant or device complications — cost the U.S. economy $19.5 billion in 2008

8/10

Researchers report that a spinal fluid test can be 100 percent accurate in identifying patients with significant memory loss who are on their way to developing Alzheimer’s disease.

8/10

Since each state’s Medicaid population’s health needs vary, each state must set health plan Medicaid rates that are appropriate to cover that state’s eligible population

8/10

There were nearly 117 million patient visits to the nation’s emergency rooms in 2007, a 23% increase over a decade, or 39.4 visits per 100 persons

8/10

The tsunami looms: By 2050, nearly 90 million Americans will have passed age 65, and every corner of society will feel the impact

8/10

Medicare beneficiaries will be able to receive for free all preventive services and screenings that receive an A or B recommendation for seniors from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

8/10

Interview with Virginia Attorney General a week after a federal court refused to dismiss Cuccinelli’s suit against the new federal health care law

8/9

A report by the corps’ advisory council estimated that 27,000 primary care physicians are needed to meet the needs of about 45 million Americans in medically underserved areas.

8/9

Health-insurance companies including Humana Inc. and Aetna Inc. are stepping into the race to equip doctors with high-tech patient records.

8/9

Look for the AHA to try an end-run around Berwick to rescind the cuts through Congress. If they’re smart, they’ll ask the same representatives that signed their letters to come through for them again via legislation.

8/9

New Medicare Report: Is It Based on a Rosy Scenario? New report also confirms Medicare and Social Security headed for insolvency in the long term

8/9

Senators voted Thursday to give $26 billion in aid to states and schools, $16 billion of which will be directed to Medicaid programs around the nation

8/9

Medicare’s chief actuary said the reduced benefits would cause Advantage plans’ enrollment to fall to 7.4 million seniors.

8/9

Two large medical certification boards declared on Thursday their intention to make physicians’ use of health information technology a standard for assessing and certifying the competency of doctors.

8/9

Congress is set to grant President Barack Obama’s request for a record $1.7 billion to fight health-care fraud, in part to almost triple investigations into crime rings that steal from Medicare.

8/9

It took private sleuths hired by Medicare an average of six months last year to refer fraud cases to law enforcement

8/9

A broad array of healthcare plans, providers and professional licensing bodies on Thursday announced a slew of initiatives aimed at getting hospitals and physicians’ offices to adopt electronic health records

8/9

Facilities that have automated surveillance technologies to detect infectious organisms have also implemented best practices to prevent their spread

8/9

Some high-profile blowups are demonstrating that continuing-care retirement communities need to be treated by consumers as a major investment and not just a place to live

8/9

Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary data released Friday show that hospitals shed 2,300 jobs in July, after reporting 3,000 payroll additions in June, which followed 1,400 reductions in May.

8/6

The Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday that says the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services needs better oversight of Medicaid managed care contracts.

8/6

While most stroke survivors will suffer falls, strategies to prevent these dangerous events continue to fall short, suggests a new study out of Australia.

8/6

That is the hope behind new diagnostic guidelines being proposed by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association

8/6

The Latest Site for Palliative Care: The Emergency Room

8/6

Radiologists and anesthesiologists remain among the best paid physicians, but internists received large pay increases in the past year

8/6

Research shows that social (and cultural) factors—including education, income, and the quality of neighborhood environments—play a prominent role “in shaping our health than medical care does”

8/6

General Electric and Intel have formed a joint venture to develop health IT products aimed at exploiting the lucrative and fast-growing chronic care market

8/6

IBM launched a service, developed with Aetna subsidiary ActiveHealth Management, to help physicians access patients’ health data like previous medical records, claims, and lab data from multiple sources and quickly analyze what the best treatment might be

8/5

Senate Majority Leader Reid responded today to a Missouri vote that Republicans call a rebuke to the sweeping new health law by saying voters like the legislation better the more they know more about it

8/5

Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure intended to nullify the new federal health care law

8/5

Health plans that have long been incented to compete on risk selection—vying for healthy enrollees and eschewing the sick—are bracing for new rules that will turn their offerings into commodities

8/5

Senate Democratic leaders claimed a victory Wednesday by winning a test vote on the pending state aid package, which includes $16 billion in federal Medicaid assistance.

8/5

Proposed changes to the U.S. system for regulating medical devices are more objectionable to the industry than some local experts expected.

8/5

Payors struggle to manage contracts that vary from facility to facility, from procedure to procedure, with significant deviation within each contract

8/5

Medicare and Social Security are facing strains from an aging population and an economy that can’t seem to get out of low gear – and despite assertions to the contrary the new health care law doesn’t improve Medicare’s solvency by much.

8/5

Harden Healthcare announced today the purchase of Voyager HospiceCare – the combined company will provide healthcare services in 13 states and will employ approximately 32,000 full-time and part-time associates in nearly 200 locations

8/5

Independence Blue Cross announced Wednesday that it is selling its four-year-old pharmacy-benefits arm to Catalyst Health Solutions Inc., the country’s fourth largest publicly traded pharmacy-benefits firm

8/5

Institute for Safe Medication Practices: Drug Shortages ‘Unprecedented’

8/5

A report from the American Medical Association finds an average of 95 medical liability claims filed for every 100 physicians.

8/5

The Senate on Wednesday cleared the way for a $26 billion package of aid to states and school districts

8/5

When the reform provisions allow 30 million people who now lack health insurance to afford medical care, will be enough specialists in behavioral or mental health to treat them all?

8/4

Pay-for-performance may be coming to New Hampshire’s health-care industry. Under a five-year pilot program health-care providers will be compensated based on their quality of care instead of the current fee-for-service model.

8/4

Don’t bother trying to count up the number of agencies, boards and commissions created under the new health care law. Estimating the number is “impossible,” a recent Congressional Research Service report says, and a true count “unknowable.”

8/4

The more effectively patients and physicians can communicate the better healthcare will be. And that includes better electronic communications, such as by e-mail

8/4

Free Health Clinics: A Stand-In for Costly Medical Care

8/4

Government Health IT reports that while the new certification and standards final rule from the ONC do allow some additional flexibility for how patient information is entered and used, the guidelines may not be specific enough.

8/4

On July 30, CMS issued the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) final rule to update policies and rates for fiscal year (FY) 2011, which maintains long-standing CMS policy and implements some provisions of the PPACA

8/4

The Food and Drug Administration proposed shoring up medical-device approval rules that have been criticized as lax and inconsistent by consumer advocates and the agency itself

8/4

Medical device makers face new safety rules under a revamped program laid out by U.S. regulators that may help speed approval of products from condoms to CT scanners

8/4

Missouri voters on Tuesday easily approved a measure aimed at nullifying the new federal health care law, becoming the first state in the nation where ordinary people made known their dismay over the issue at the ballot box

8/4

A Senate effort to extend federal help to states struggling with swelling Medicaid rolls hit a road block yesterday when a crucial vote to move the measure forward was delayed until at least Wednesday

8/4

Americans are continuing to get fatter and fatter, with obesity rates reaching 30 percent or more in nine states last year, as opposed to only three states in 2007

8/4

How many pieces of information are needed to identify an individual? In the field of re-identification science, it’s 33 “bits”

8/4

Insurance coverage that starts on or after Sept. 23 will have to comply with new provisions that were put in place when President Barack Obama signed the health overhaul into law March 23.

8/3

A first step in what will most likely be a long transition to a new payment system where bundled reimbursements and pay-for-performance are the norm.

8/3

In 2009, 76% of all specialties saw an increase in compensation, with the overall weighted average increase of approximately 3.4%.

8/3

General Electric and Intel said on Monday that they had formed a joint venture to create products for patients with chronic diseases and for elderly people at home or in assisted living

8/3

The new health overhaul law will start producing savings for Medicare right away, and add 12 years of solvency to the program’s trust fund for inpatient care, according to a report to be released Monday

8/3

Virginia can proceed with its lawsuit challenging the health-care overhaul signed by President Barack Obama in March, a federal judge said.

8/3

WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and three other health insurers, criticized by Democrats during the overhaul debate, are seeking to influence how the new law will be implemented

8/3

The American Hospital Association is strongly protesting the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Service’s newly announced 2.9% final inpatient rule reimbursement cuts for Fiscal 2011

8/3

Professional on-site interpreters in the emergency department greatly improve patient and physician satisfaction, and might improve efficiencies and outcomes

8/3

Consumers and policy makers will be crossing treacherous terrain as they make the transition to a new health care system in the next three and a half years.

8/3

Republicans may not be able to repeal the Democrats’ health care reform law next year, but they’re eyeing the next best thing: denying the Obama administration the money it needs to implement the law.

8/3

As state Medicaid programs continue to move away from fee-for-service pay, treating physicians who are often paid a fixed amount to coordinate their health care.

8/3

While e-prescribing has grown dramatically in recent years, local doctors said there continue to be barriers to widespread acceptance of a technology that could save thousands of lives.

8/3

Looking to save money on healthcare? Consider asking your doctor for a discount

8/2

In the latest case of foreigners invading the American homeland to make a buck, a Paris-based IT company seeking to enter the U.S. health IT market has bought Pulse Systems, a maker of electronic health records based in Wichita, Kansas

8/2

The state-based pools provision is one of the high-profile features of the new health law taking effect this year. It allocates $5 billion to create plans to cover people who have been uninsured for at least six months and have a pre-existing health condition.

8/2

Germany, Greece and Spain have cut or plan to reduce their health spending after European Union policy makers agreed to an almost $1 trillion rescue fund in May to prevent the fiscal collapse in Greece from spreading

8/2

Obamacare Only Gets Worse Upon Further Review: Commentary by Kevin Hassett

8/2

Four months after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously declared “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it,”a congressional panel has released the first chart illustrating the 2,801 page health care law

8/2

How much does an overnight stay in the ICU cost? $750? $6,000? Haven’t got a clue? Many hospitalists don’t know either.

8/2

Hospitals are still waiting for word from new CMS chief Donald Berwick on whether they will get relief from the proposed 2.9% reimbursement cut from Medicare, known as the “coding offset”

8/2

Ms. Sebelius is trying to appease cash-strapped governors who will have big sway over the success of the health overhaul passed in March.

8/2

Tucked into the new health care law is a requirement that could become a paperwork nightmare for nearly 40 million businesses.

8/2

Ehealth Inc. has been named to help operate the new federal health website, making it one of the first private companies to get a major contract from the federal government under the nation’s new health law

Vita Advisors, LLC is a research-based strategic advisory firm serving the health care industry.

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