Reimbursement

The Affordable Care Act was intended to reduce healthcare costs, but premiums have gone up as mean household incomes have declined. Is ACA at fault, and what other factors are in play? This infographic from MBACC  has some answers.  

A recent report published by the Institute for Health Technology Transformation gave some interesting insight into accountable care organizations (ACOs). Among sections focusing on the origins of the ACO concept and their current state, the report detailed 10 basic things you need to know about ACOs.

The final rule for accountable care organizations relieved providers from some of the immediate pressures of establishing health IT, but electronic health records and other technologies will be critical to coordinate care to improve quality and lower costs.

Physician groups are pleased with their initial take of the final accountable care organization (ACO) rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Oct. 20.

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a HIPAA 5010 contingency plan permitting health plans to adjudicate claims that may not have all the required data.

Advocates for the poor and hospital executives say states' attempts to cut Medicaid hospital coverage will restrict patients' access to care, force hospitals to absorb more costs and lead to higher charges for privately insured patients.

Healthcare Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY) announced Friday that it has connected its HIE with the cloud-based electronic health record from athenahealth.

One of the underreported results of the public comments period for accountable organizations this past summer was the emergence of a gap between patient-centric industry groups and those associations representing care providers of various sizes.

A significant percentage of the nation’s pediatricians are carrying necessary vaccines at their own expense, Athenahealth, Inc. recently announced. The announcement accompanied the launch of the company’s new VaccineViewSM, a program designed to shed light on the impact of vaccine reimbursement costs on U.S. pediatric practices.

WellPoint and UnitedHealthcare are among private payers that have been testing new models to improve patient outcomes and lower costs, even before the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released rules around new payment and care delivery approaches.