Reimbursement

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari, MD, spoke with Healthcare IT News Senior Editor Diana Manos Monday at the HIMSS Media ICD-10 Forum in  National Harbor, Md.  With his typical candor and energy, Mostashari commented on several healthcare IT issues and about ICD-10 – the focus of the forum and the topic of the keynote talk he had delivered earlier in the day. Yes, he was wearing his signature bow tie.

With so many reimbursement considerations to think about with the transition to ICD-10, such as reduced cash flow and an increase in denials and audits, the best defense for healthcare systems is to know what to expect and begin preparing for the changes now.

In a competitive healthcare marketplace like Dallas-Ft. Worth, it's essential that a physician practice tightly manage its revenue cycle. Texas Health Physicians Group is doing that by tracking five key financial metrics.

So-called "pay for delay" deals between patent-holding pharmaceutical firms and would-be generics makers can now be challenged on antitrust grounds, although they are not necessarily anti-competitive, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has found that hospitals with a large portion of low-income patients also have higher readmission rates, and, therefore, higher penalties under Medicare's hospital readmissions reduction program.

Between 2005 and 2011, chemotherapy procedures in hospital outpatient settings for Medicare patients increased by more than 150 percent finds an analysis commissioned by members of the oncology community.

For many small, community stand-alone health systems across the country, eventually merging with another larger healthcare organization remains a distinct possibility. Until that day arrives though -- if it does at all -- these organizations must continue to focus their efforts on meeting the quality care needs of the local community.

Improving revenue cycle performance at a hospital or health system often requires changes to processes and technology, but also demands a renewed sense of teamwork, said officials at New Jersey’s Atlantic Health System.

Mid-Atlantic region payer CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield will launch in October an intelligent virtual assistant, called "Chloe," to help consumers who get their coverage directly from the payer's website to select the appropriate health plan.

There's a commonly held perception that healthcare is a process in which doctors take care of patients. But increasingly healthcare stakeholders are figuring out that, at times, a more effective way to help patients get healthy is to show them how to take care of themselves.