Chelsey Ledue

While the Medicare competitive bidding program is set to restart in October, a recent study indicates the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services drastically misread the marketplace and that the current competitive bidding program reduces overall competition and hurts the quality of patient care.

Some physicians are afraid or unable to switch to electronic claims submission, while others are worried about the cost. Office Ally hopes to ease that burden by offering a free clearinghouse service to physicians. All revenues come from insurance companies and IPAs. Internet access is all it takes to participate.

Consumer confidence in their healthcare spending has grown 12 percent since March, according to a new report by Thomson Reuters.

A new report highlights problems that leave seniors paying high costs for their healthcare and outlines how health insurance reform will strengthen Medicare and protect coverage for seniors.

MN Community Measurement has published new information about how much Minnesota's medical groups are paid to provide more than 100 common healthcare services.

A Detroit-area physical therapist has pled guilty to conspiring to defraud the Medicare program of approximately $1.6 million.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has selected 15 hospitals to participate in two new quality improvement programs as part of its Aligning Forces for Quality initiative.

The American Legion is pushing for a significant expansion of the healthcare systems administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

While the Chicago medical community is more consolidated than most large cities, the physician segment is likely to contract even more in the future, reports HealthLeaders-InterStudy.