Reimbursement

Recently, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released survey results that found that just one percent of Americans accounted for 22 percent of healthcare costs in 2009.

When asked to choose a healthcare provider based only on cost, consumers choose the more expensive option, according to a new study funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that appears in the March issue of Health Affairs.

Both the meaningful use and health IT standards and certification proposed rules officially appeared in the Federal Register March 7, which automatically launched the countdown for public comments for 60 days. The public may comment on the proposed rule online through May 6.

At the HIT Policy Committee meeting on March 7, Farzad Mostashari, federal health IT czar, expressed strong disagreement over a new health IT survey published in the March issue of Health Affairs. The study has drawn a slough of national media attention.

What with Texas not partaking in Super Tuesday this time around, the primary in Ohio is considered paramount to GOP candidates -- and the Buckeye State is where Rick Santorum has hit Mitt Romney hardest on healthcare thus far.

Home-based care management company Univita Health has acquired HME and DME provider All-Med Services of Florida, in a deal that adds more than 1 million patient lives to Univita's book of business.

Any lingering illusions that the transition to the HIPAA 5010 standard would present only minor glitches have come crashing down. In late January, the Medical Group Management Association sent an urgent plea to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, asking the agency to take immediate action to alleviate a host of claims problems and payment delays.

The healthcare Industry as a whole is currently weighing its options after the recent announcement by Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius that the federal government may extend the October 2013 ICD-10 implementation deadline.

An amendment tacked onto an unrelated transportation bill that would allow any employer, not just those affiliated with a religious organization, to not offer contraceptive health coverage to employees failed yesterday in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 51-48.

Louisiana is moving forward on its new Web-based Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) now that it has federal approval on the $185 million, 10-year contract with CNSI, a Gaithersburg, Md., health IT services provider, to develop and deploy the system by the end of 2014.