Reimbursement

As the federal government evaluates state demonstrations for providing Medicare-Medicaid eligible Americans with better, more cost-effective care, a new study suggests that large savings will be elusive without specialized models and some improvisation.

Eliminating surgical complications is something all hospitals strive towards, however, for some hospitals, savings gained by reducing or eliminating surgical complications can lead to reduced revenues.

The latest insurer to follow a market for employer defined contribution plans, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is creating a health insurance exchange for its large group customers with the help of the tech firm Benefitfocus.

As the federal government gets ready to approve, or maybe reject, state demonstrations for providing Medicare-Medicaid eligible Americans with better, more cost-effective care, a new study suggests that large savings will be elusive without specialized models and some improvisation.

To get better care for patients and lower costs, it's important to stitch together the experience of patients both while they're in the hospital and immediately afterwards.

Ohio uncertain of whether to use federal fallback exchange; Illinois to pursue state-federal exchange venture; and CMS rolls out exchange simulations in this week's HIX Digest.

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) announced Monday the launch of a new interactive iPad app. AHIP officials say the app, "U.S. Health Care Spending 101," is meant to provide policymakers and stakeholders with comprehensive healthcare spending data in an easy-to-use digital format.

According to Suzanne Menard, Revenue Cycle Director at Southern Maine Medical Center (SMMC), some of the most important keys to implementing a successful Point of Service (POS) collection program include clear objectives presented to all hospital committees and comprehensive training programs for involved staff members.

A new report finds that the uncertainty caused by a congressional history of last-minute reprieves from Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment cuts has held back physician practices from participating in new Medicare payment and delivery models.

National Medicaid enrollment, spending down; Pennsylvania to allow 100K families booted from Medicaid back into program; and South Carolina's enrollment projection may be too low in this week's Medicaid Digest.