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In his first State of the Union address of his second term, President Barack Obama on Feb. 12 directly addressed some of the challenges and opportunities facing the federal Medicare program in the coming years, citing value-based purchasing in particular as an important change to the U.S. healthcare system, as well as proposing changes in pharmaceutical policy and in Medicare rules for wealthy seniors.

As President Barack Obama re-nominates Marilyn Tavenner, R.N., acting administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to be permanent CMS administrator, industry reaction is uniformly positive; but Republicans on Capitol Hill may or may not help the nomination to move forward to hearings and confirmation

AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy announced that she will be leaving the Agency after ten years on the job. Meanwhile, several healthcare IT practitioners, academics and policymakers met in Washington this week during a joint meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee and Health IT Standards Committee.

The meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs), healthcare reform and ongoing pressure to improve clinical and financial performance will drive six trends that we expect will impact providers in 2013, say two executives at CTG Health Solutions

Leaders at the American Health Quality Association recently showcased the release of an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that documented an impressive decline in avoidable hospitalizations and readmissions among Medicare patients in communities in which Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) have coordinated interventions that engaged whole communities in care improvement.