Healthcare Finance Staff
Physicians in Maine are piloting electronic visits with their patients as part of a program developed between Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS) and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine.
Genetic testing and electronic medical records are top of the ECRI Institute's 2010 technology watch list for health plans.
Despite the economy and subsequent fall in market prices, the cost of long-term care has gone up, according to the 2009 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services and Home Care Costs.
Georgia Hospital Health Services, a subsidiary of the Georgia Hospital Association, has selected a Web-based benchmarking tool to help its member hospitals analyze how effectively they use space in key revenue generating areas.
Interview with Russ Rudish, Vice Chairman and Health Care Providers Sector Leader, Deloitte & Touche, LLP (New York)
Commentary by Scott MacKenzie, CEO of Passport Health Communications in Franklin, Tenn.
Commentary By Mike Alkire, president of Premier Purchasing Partners
Compared to other stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem, payers are late adopters of Health 2.0 technology.
While many payers are beginning to invest, a panel at the Health 2.0 Conference in San Francisco in October demonstrated how they are leading the pack.
Kaiser Permanente's electronic health record system is well known in the industry. The healthcare organization is putting the finishing touches to its EHR throughout the enterprise, said Christopher Ohman, senior vice president of health plan operations outside California for Kaiser.
In a move to drive more transparency in the healthcare insurance market, the Oregon legislature has mandated health plans to provide the cost of 35 different treatments to consumers.
PacificSource has delivered nearly 1,000 estimates for its members since it deployed TriZetto's Treatment Cost Navigator in July, said CIO Erick Doolan.
Although healthcare reform dominates the payer world, payers need to start working on a game plan for the major transition to ICD-10, industry consultants said.
"The biggest mistake payers can make is not addressing the impact assessment quickly," said Pamela Ruebelmann, vice president of healthcare solutions for HighPoint Solutions.
An assessment, which provides a full understanding of all the impacted components of people, process and technology, will help payers develop a multi-year, organization-wide roadmap, she said.