Healthcare Finance Staff
The Illinois Health Information Exchange will spend $7.5 million for a technology platform for the exchange. Officials recently announced a contract with Cambridge, Mass.-based InterSystems for implementation of InterSystems HealthShare.
Jonathan Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association, has shared seven market trends that will shape telemedicine and telehealth in the immediate future. These trends represent major changes from the existing norm, creating new challenges and opportunities for the industry, he says.
The TriZetto Group announced it has acquired Chandler, Ariz.-based Medical Data Express (MDE), with an eye toward expanding its managed solutions that serve more than 14 million Medicare Advantage and Part D members and more than 12 million Medicaid members.
The Republican presidential candidates avoided talking about healthcare issues in any detail in Iowa because it did not register as a high-impact issue for voters. So no one wanted to put themselves out front architecting their view of solutions, engaging in discussion about it or even visiting healthcare facilities, said Matt Eide, managing partner at Eide & Heisinger in Des Moines, Iowa.
Iowa is poised to build a health information exchange (HIE) that will make it possible for even small rural medical practices to share patient information. Officials expect it will be fully operational by year's end.
The Health and Human Services Department has finalized its initial core set of health quality measures for adults eligible for Medicaid for voluntary use by states.
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.
I hate making predictions. Especially when they're about the future.
But since I listed the top stories of 2011 and how they affected ICD-10 implementation, I need to explain their implications in 2012.
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.