Healthcare Finance Staff
In its roundup of top predictions for IT organizations and users, Gartner, Inc. has forecasted new and innovative uses of technology from healthcare payers, integrated delivery systems, government and consumers.
In the past decade, most states have turned Medicaid over to private plans with hopes they could control costs and improve care. Nearly half of the 60 million people in the government program for the poor are now in the managed care plans run by insurance giants such as UnitedHealthcare and Aetna.
Up to 10,000 Medicare patients with chronic conditions will be able to get most of the care they need at home under a new demonstration project developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The pilot is underpinned by the use of information technology.
The Greater Houston Health Information Exchange (GHHIE) is now operational after two physician groups successfully exchanged secure clinical messages via the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's Direct Project Protocol service.
CMS will host a teleconference open door forum on Jan. 5 for physician-based and rural accountable care organizations (ACOs) that plan on participating in the Shared Savings Program.
The organization developing Maryland's health insurance exchange delivered recommendations to the governor and state legislature to support its operations, bringing the state another step closer to one-stop shopping for health coverage in 2014.
The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), has identified 20 portable X-ray suppliers with "questionable billing patterns," according to a report issued Tuesday.
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has developed a legislative proposal to expand the use of telemedicine for Medicaid enrollees with high-risk pregnancies and neonatal care needs. The ATA says it could save Medicare $186 million over the next 10 years.
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) has pledged its support for the Office of the National Coordinator's (ONC) campaign to promote consumer awareness of health information technology.
A Kaiser Permanente program for women at risk of substance abuse during their pregnancy could save $2 billion each year if applied on a national basis, according to a new study published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.