Reimbursement

Healthcare trends starting to follow other industries.

The California-based Integrated Healthcare Association has been awarded a three-year, $2.9 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Medicare costs in the last six months of life are influenced more by patient characteristics - such as ability to function, the severity of the illness and family support - than by regional factors, such as the number of hospital beds available, according to a study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine.

BancTec is partnering with MediStreams to introduce Healthcare Remittance Automation, an outsourced service available to providers, aggregators and financial institutions of all sizes.

Hospital executives are planning for budget increases over the next five years and are prioritizing strategic initiatives that had previously been on hold due to economic constraints, according to a new study by L.E.K. Consulting.

The Beth Israel Deaconess Physician Organization will roll out analytics software to help its doctors measure clinical performance. The goal is to reduce variations in care - capabilities essential to the Massachusetts-based organization's plans to operate successfully under anticipated state and national payment reform changes.

During the healthcare reform debates of 2009, there were angry confrontations that nothing in the legislation would address rising healthcare costs.

TRICARE, the health care program serving active duty service members, is gauging industry interest and capabilities for providing a Web-based electronic health record system for its military health system.  

CIGNA has signed agreements to establish onsite healthcare clinics on American air bases in Kandahar and Bagram, Afghanistan.

CIGNA has signed agreements to establish onsite healthcare clinics on American air bases in Kandahar and Bagram, Afghanistan.