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 Gabriel Perna
article
Jeffrey Woo, M.D., a technologically-inclined internist at a multi-specialty group in Grand Rapids, Mich., talks about why he loves using the iPad for documentation and how he got his 50-to-60-year old colleagues on board with the initiative. He also talks about facing HIPAA concerns head-on in this exclusive interview.
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 13, 2013 John DeGaspari
article
With the advent of policy-driven changes under healthcare reform, the traditional revenue cycle management practices based on encounter-based billing activities are being swept aside. With that inevitability, provider organizations are considering how to best realign their accounts receivable processes to maximize those revenues that are pegged to data-driven quality outcomes in patient care.
February 13, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
The Reston, Va.-based Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), a non-profit organization formed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), has announced that it will extend free membership for all federal and state government agencies and their corresponding departments.
February 13, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
Of the 258 accountable care organizations (ACOs) recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 60 of them, from more than 15 states, have joined together to form the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS), a non-profit organization that allows ACOs to work together to increase quality of care, lower costs and improve the health of their communities.
February 13, 2013 Mark Hagland
news
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.
February 12, 2013 Joe Marion
blog
A lot is being written on Interoperability lately. Achieving it depends not only on vendor cooperation but also on facility insistence.
February 12, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has selected Russell P. Branzell as CEO, the organization announced this week. Branzell, currently the CEO of Colorado Health Medical Group, a division of University of Colorado Health, will begin his new role in April.
February 12, 2013 David Raths
article
The health system consolidation is putting pressure on CIOs to deliver clinical integration and back-office efficiencies. And the potential acceleration in a parallel consolidation among health IT vendors holds many implications for the industry.
