Reimbursement

Healthcare organizations have been very focused over the last two to four years on rolling out their electronic health record strategy, which has been driven largely by the meaningful use incentives. Today, however, Integrated delivery networks (IDNs) are starting to recognize that their EHRs alone will not solve every problem -- especially care coordination issues between IDNs.

More than half of the people who have health insurance coverage through an individual insurance plan are enrolled in plans that won't meet minimum coverage requirements for plans sold in 2014 as defined by the Affordable Care Act, according to research supported by The Commonwealth Fund.

Last week, two U.S. Congressmen from Texas -- Rep. Michael Burgess (R) and Gene Green (D) -- introduced American Hospital Association (AHA)-supported legislation aimed at making healthcare more affordable by promoting healthcare price transparency.

During testimony last week at the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Irving, Texas-based VHA Inc., said that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Schedule H amendment, which regulates reporting for tax-exempt organizations, has overly burdensome requirements for non-profit hospitals.

Per capita spending on healthcare services for people with private, employer-sponsored health insurance who were younger than 65 rose 3.3 percent in 2010, a rate more than double that of inflation according to a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI).

An IT-supported pilot program in New York's Hudson Valley that embeds a network of nurse care managers in primary practices to catch patients who fall off physicians' radar, has helped close gaps in care and improved the health status of these patients.

Following the release of a financial report last week by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) has said that the state's hospitals will be facing an uncertain financial future.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has asked the federal government to delay the implementation deadline for ICD-10 for another year from Oct. 1, 2013, until Oct. 1, 2015, "at a minimum."

Two separate studies by researchers at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, show a correlation between hospital readmission rates and how full the hospital was at the time of discharge, which suggests that many patients may have been sent home earlier than necessary.

States must provide details to the federal government by Nov. 16 – just 10 days after the presidential election – on how they will run online insurance marketplaces, according to guidance released May 16.