March 7, 2013 Gabriel Perna
article
At the closing keynote address of HIMSS13 conference in New Orleans, James Carville and Karl Rove, two of the most notable political minds of the modern era, gave their contrasting thoughts on a variety of hot button issues in a spirited, lively debate.
March 6, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
In a wide-ranging speech invoking his famous foundation’s work in improving the health of the citizens of impoverished countries around the world, efforts to promote healthy lifestyles in the U.S., and the opportunities inherent in 21st-century information and other technologies, former President Bill Clinton told a rapt, standing-room only audience at HIMSS13 on March 6 that healthcare IT professionals have a responsibility to help lead the transformation of our healthcare system into one that is far more transparent, accountable, and focused on dramatically improving the health status of our country’s citizens.
March 1, 2013 Mark Hagland
news
With the federal budget sequester looming on the horizon on Friday, March 1, healthcare provider association executives began to speak out on the impact on healthcare of the sequester. In a statement from the Englewood, Colo.-based Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Susan L. Turney, M.D., the association's president and CEO, criticized Congress’s failure to prevent the sequester, with the resulting impact on healthcare providers.
February 26, 2013 Mark Hagland
news
According to reports in the New Jersey Star-Ledger and the Washington Post, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was expected to announce his support on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 26, for the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program under the terms of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Gov. Christie would be the eighth Republican governor to do so in recent months.
February 26, 2013 Mark Hagland
news
C. Everett Koop, M.D., a pediatric surgeon who served as the 13th Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989, died on Feb. 25 at the age of 96, at his home in Hanover, N.H. He was the best-known of Surgeon Generals, and indeed, was arguably the only to date who has broken through to a level of recognition by average Americans.
February 21, 2013 Mark Hagland
news
In a major policy reversal, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida on Feb. 20 announced that he would support expanding his state’s Medicaid program to cover more poor residents, accepting the federal government's offer to pay for a three-year expansion of the program, under the terms of the Affordable Care Act; but the final decision on that option will be up to the Florida Legislature.
February 14, 2013 Mark Hagland
news
A Congressional Budget Office report finds that the growth in healthcare cost inflation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs has slowed in the short term, with healthcare reform-driven reimbursement changes a possible factor in the trend
February 13, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
During a visit with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to the Erie Health Center in Chicago on Feb.13, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that Illinois has been conditionally approved to operate a State Partnership Marketplace (Exchange), which will be ready for open enrollment in October 2013. This partnership will allow Illinois to make key decisions and tailor the marketplace to local needs and market conditions.
February 8, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
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
February 7, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are proposing changes to the format ofchildren’s electronic health records (EHRs), the two agencies jointly announced.
February 5, 2013 Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
article
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.
February 4, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
Reforms to Medicare regulations identified as unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome on hospitals and healthcare providers would save nearly $676 million annually, and $3.4 billion over five years, through a rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services (CMS).
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