January 5, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
In the wake of the so-called “fiscal cliff deal” that averted the effects of federal budget sequestration for two months when it was passed by Congress on Jan. 1 and signed by President Obama on Jan. 2, Blair Childs, senior vice president for public affairs at the Charlotte-based Premier health alliance, spoke with HCI Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland about the current policy and political situation on Capitol Hill. To paraphrase Bette Davis, healthcare providers need to expect a bumpy ride throughout 2013.
January 2, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
At approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1, the U.S. House of Representatives concluded voting, by a margin of 257 to 167, to approve a bill that the U.S. Senate had approved at about 1:57 a.m. Tuesday, to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” triggered on Tuesday by prior legislation passed in 2011. The legislation forestalled for several weeks the triggering of federal budget sequestration, which would have unleashed $110 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts, including across-the-board 2-percent Medicare reimbursement cuts to healthcare providers.
December 19, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
On Dec. 19, the Chicago-based Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. announced that its CEO, Glen Tullman, had stepped down, and that the company had named Paul M. Black as its president and CEO, effective immediately. Tullman’s resignation followed well over a year of turmoil and upheaval within the company, in an industry facing rapid change.
December 18, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
As I write this, President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner are involved in complex, perhaps rather tense, negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff and what to do about federal taxes, revenues and programs. In the past couple of days, the news reports and rumors have changed almost hourly, with estimates of possible Medicare cuts to providers shifting quite frequently. Whatever the end result of this process, analytics-facilitated continuous clinical performance improvement will soon be crucial to provider survival.
December 18, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Earlier this month, Jane Metzger, principal researcher in the Waltham, Mass.-based Global Institute for Emerging Healthcare Practices within the Falls Church, Va.-based CSC, authored a new white paper, "Preparing for Accountable Care: Coordinated Care." With the healthcare delivery system facing unprecedented foundational challenges moving into the new environment of accountable, coordinated care, Metzger spoke recently with Mark Hagland about the reality of what providers face going forward.
December 14, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
As negotiations over the so-called “fiscal cliff” enter a key phase, Sharon Canner, Director of Advocacy Programs at CHIME, speaks exclusively with HCI Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland about the prospects for Medicare cuts and other issues for legislators on Capitol Hill
December 13, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
Summit Medical Group, a Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based medical group, recently announced its forming an accountable care organization (ACO) with Cigna, a New York City-based payer. The two organizations say the new ACO will impact 10,000 patients that receive care at 300 Summit Medical Group providers.
December 11, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
As Rebecca Grant, director of imaging services at the 625-bed Huntington Hospital, and her colleagues moved through the process of selecting a new PACS vendor, interoperability was the most important factor in their decision-making. Grant explains the various elements in a complex informatics imaging environment, and the factors that influenced her and her colleagues' important decision in this critical area.
December 10, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
As the clock counts down to the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans reveal just how vulnerable healthcare providers are to potential reimbursement cuts and added policy mandates, as the federal government lurches forward to resolve many unresolved budget and healthcare policy issues
December 7, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
The October issue of The American Journal of Managed Care included a fascinating article, "Implementation of EHR-Based Strategies to Improve outpatient CAD Care," in which a group of researchers documented how EHR-facilitated physician alerts alone aren’t enough to improve outcomes for patients with such chronic illnesses as coronary artery disease. It turns out, success requires a savvy combination of financial incentives, IT alerts, and good data analysis.
December 3, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Lisa Khorey, vice president of enterprise systems and data management at the University of Pittsburgh Medical center (UPMC) health system, shares her perspectives on what made her and her colleagues move forward on a five-year, $100 million enterprise healthcare analytics initiative
November 27, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Keith J. Dreyer, M .D. not only sees the future of automation-facilitated radiology practice; he has been instrumental in bringing clinical decision support tools to the radiologist masses nationwide. In a frank discussion with HCI's Mark Hagland, Dr. Dreyer shares his perspectives on where radiology practice is going, and what radiologists-and healthcare IT leaders-need to understand about the near future in healthcare.
