Bernie Monegain

Medicare programs designed to boost the care of chronically ill patients while reducing hospital admissions and saving costs have largely failed, a new government-contracted study concludes.

Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions announced on Tuesday it plans to sell its Medication Services business.

The Marshfield Clinic will roll out new business intelligence software to boost clinic operations and provide more and better data on patients.

Calling it "a moral duty," Sens. Max Baucus and Edward M. Kennedy, pledged to do their best to achieve healthcare reform this year.

Massachusetts has awarded $32.6 million in grants and increased Medicaid rate payments to 69 hospitals and community centers across the commonwealth.

South Carolina's 65 acute care hospitals are banding together to prevent healthcare-acquired infections across the state. The effort is expected to save hundreds of lives and as much $40 million a year.

Two physician organizations are weighing in on the healthcare piece of the economic stimulus package, calling on the president and Congress to support healthcare information technology, additional funding for primary care training, Medicaid funding for states and comparative effectiveness research.

Humana, one of the nation's largest health-benefits companies, has promised to adopt machine-readable patient ID cards and, in the process, won the acclaim of the Medical Group Management Association, which estimates the cards could save physician offices and hospitals as much as $1 billion a year.

Healthcare IT leaders in Indiana say they have a tested model of healthcare data exchange - and the government would get a quick return on its investment if it were replicated around the nation.

MTBC, a revenue cycle management and healthcare IT company, is taking to the air to call attention to its offerings.