Reimbursement

Cigna and Granite Healthcare Network, comprising five independent charitable healthcare organizations, have announced the formation of what the two organizations are calling the largest accountable care organization (ACO) in New Hampshire.

The state's political leaders appear to be striving for a status quo wherein a large number of citizens lack health insurance or the means to obtain it. Will that spark a shift among voters during the upcoming November elections?

Healthcare providers need health information exchange to be fully automated and easy to do in order to scale up sharing of patient data to improve care, according to Farzad Mostashari, MD, the national coordinator for health information tcchnology.

Letters sent last Friday to House Ways and Means Committee chairs Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Wally Herger (R-Calif.) from the American Medical Association (AMA) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) suggest a number of different payment approaches aimed at a long-term solution to the current Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR).

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.

With so much political rhetoric aimed at the Affordable Care Act these days and many openly hoping the Supreme Court will throw the baby out with the individual mandate bathwater, the law's strong points very often get drowned out by the static and noise.

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).