Reimbursement
With Washington state's gubernatorial primary is three months away, the race is already taking a health reform twist as one of the Republican candidates is among the Attorneys General suing the federal government over President Obama's health reform law and, in turn, just this month is now facing a lawsuit himself by a group of women for doing just that.
According to research new research from the American Heart Association, the differences in regional readmission rates for heart failure are more closely connected with the availability of care and socioeconomics rather than with hospital performance or a patient's degree of illness.
The states of Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington will receive $181 million in grants from the Health and Human Services Department to help them establish health insurance exchanges.
Conifer Health Solutions, a subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare Corp., announced yesterday a 10-year revenue cycle management deal for 56 Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) hospitals that will also see CHI acquire a minority stake in Conifer.
According to research that was presented last week at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2012, the differences in regional readmission rates for heart failure are more closely connected with the availability of care and socioeconomics rather than with hospital performance or a patient's degree of illness.
Leading financial analysts scoffed at the notion of a healthcare IT "bubble" that could slow the pace of mergers and acquisitions this year. Speaking on a panel called "Financing The Deal" at the Nashville Health Care Council, they predicted that 2012 M&A activity would be brisk, though not superheated.
Michael McKay, 32, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.. pleaded guilty in district court on May 11 for forging physician's chart notes to make Medicare or private carrier claims qualify for reimbursements for bone growth stimulator medical devices.
As the number of home health agencies and fraud cases related to home health agencies continues to skyrocket, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is exerting more pressure on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to fulfill an obligation that is 15 years old.
Jeffrey Selwyn, an internist at New Pueblo Medicine in Tucson, Ariz., is 65, but he says he's nowhere near retiring. Unlike many docs his age who are throwing in the towel due to the increased pressures on physicians to use EHRs, Selwyn is excited. He wasn't always a fan, however.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is calling for public comment on proposals for rules of the road to govern the nationwide health information network (NwHIN).