Healthcare Finance Staff
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday that HP Enterprise Services will be a prime contractor for the VA Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology (T4) program, which aims at transforming the VA's IT programs in order to improve quality of healthcare and benefits services to veterans, their families and survivors.
Pay-for-performance (P4P) does not result in providers cherry-picking patients, nor does it cause a negative impact on patient outcomes, according to a new study by researchers from the American College of Surgeons (ACS), released at the ACS Clinical Congress in San Francisco on Thursday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services clearly listened to the provider and insurer communities in determining the final rule for how to establish accountable care organizations (ACOs). CMS is much more systematic about the establishment of ACOs, laying out a ramp-up period and then a shared savings model down the road, according to payers and their stakeholders.
On Monday, Cigna announced a $3.8 billion all cash deal to acquire Tennessee-based HealthSpring for $3.8 billion in cash, a move aimed at jumpstarting Cigna's presence in the Medicare Advantage market.
Less than 10 percent of healthcare providers are more than halfway ready for ICD-10, according to a new report from research firm KLAS. Two that are well on their way to compliance, however, are Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego and St. Louis, Mo.-based SSM Health Care, which is also rolling out an electronic health record system before the Oct. 1, 2013 deadline for ICD-10 conversion.
Global economic forces will compel the U.S. healthcare system to change the way it delivers care – whether the key players are ready or not, former Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt told an audience of about 700 healthcare CIOs Wednesday morning.
The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) has signed an agreement to connect with the Great Lakes Health Information Exchange (GLHIE), the exchange's officials announced on Tuesday.
The Affordable Care Act was intended to reduce healthcare costs, but premiums have gone up as mean household incomes have declined. Is ACA at fault, and what other factors are in play? This infographic from MBACC has some answers.
Prescription drugs are more expensive in the United States than in any other developed nation. What are some of the reasons behind the astronomical cost of pharmaceuticals, and are there any steps the government could take to make drugs cheaper to US buyers? Check out this interesting graphic and give us your opinion.
The final rule for accountable care organizations relieved providers from some of the immediate pressures of establishing health IT, but electronic health records and other technologies will be critical to coordinate care to improve quality and lower costs.