August 22, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
UnitedHealthcare (UHC), the Minnetonka, Minn.-based health insurer, has improved its claims management website with the addition of an electronic bill-payment service that enables consumers to pay their medical bills, and manage their healthcare claims and related expenses all from one location
August 21, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
article
The industry is a little over a year away from the transition to ICD-10. While that may seem like a long time, Cindy Hegner, certified coder and approved ICD-10 trainer, says that patient care organizations cannot be too prepared. Hegner also offers her thoughts on the industry's readiness, and challenges medical practices will face in the upcoming months.
July 29, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based healthcare-purchaser organization focused on patient safety and value, has launched a new online tool that allows purchasers to calculate how much they spend annually on unnecessary costs due to medical errors that occur within general acute care hospitals.
July 25, 2013 John DeGaspari
news
Strong relationships with physicians, particularly those that are long standing, are likely to increase patients' openness to talk about health care costs when decisions are being made about their treatment options, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health. Rushed visits with insufficient time to talk about important issues can undermine efforts to bring sensitive topics like costs into the doctor-patient relationship and can be counter-productive. The work appears online in the Journal of General Medicine.
July 25, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
article
With a perfect storm of lower Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and the specter additional budgetary cuts from Congress, even automated RCM systems are not up to snuff. How are hospitals, medical groups and integrated health systems preparing for new models of care delivery and reimbursement?
July 19, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
Healthcare providers are actively reducing costs in reaction to changes brought by healthcare reform, according to a survey from Provista, an Irving, Tx.-based supply chain improvement company.
June 26, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
Cigna and Valley Preferred, a provider-owned, preferred provider organization aligned with Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pa., are launching a collaborative accountable care initiative to improve patient access to healthcare, enhance care coordination, and achieve the “triple aim” of improved health, affordability and patient experience.
June 26, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
blog
With all of the knowledge gained at last week’s Healthcare Financial Management Association's (HFMA) annual conference in Orlando, Fla., there was one message conveyed that helped put it all together: finance professionals, particularly CFOs, need to lead the way towards the new healthcare.
June 23, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
ThedaCare’s Brian Veara drills down to the rubber-meets-the-road issues when it comes to data and information management in a process-advanced organization committed to rapid clinical transformation. First lesson learned: the practical challenges are many.
June 20, 2013 John DeGaspari
news
Emergency physicians are key decision makers for nearly half of all hospital admissions, highlighting a critical role they can play in reducing health care costs, according to a new report from the RAND Corporation. The report recommends that hospital administrators, policymakers, payers and federal research agencies recognize the current reality in emergency department operations and the role they play in coordinating care for millions of patients.
June 18, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
article
Donald Berwick, M.D., formerly acting administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and a new official candidate for Massachusetts governor, spoke passionately to a large audience on June 18 at the Healthcare Financial Management Association's (HFMA) annual conference in Orlando, Fla. about transforming America’s healthcare system.