News

The growing shortage of physicians is causing many healthcare organizations to rethink the roles of nurse practitioners and physician assistants. To figure out which role is the better to invest in, organizations have a lot to consider.

The federal government is proposing a 3.5 percent Medicare Advantage rate reduction, but all other factors considered, how much could the cuts translate into?

Maryland's troubled insurance exchange is ending its contract with the lead IT developer and might be trying to recoup some of the millions that've been paid out, while calling in the nation's go-to HIX fix-it firm.

Aetna CEO Mark T. Bertolini believes that when times are tough, people want to hear the truth. In his Monday morning opening keynote here at HIMSS14, Bertolini was prepared to speak the unvarnished truth.

The recent delay of the employer mandate for medium-sized businesses will hurt not-for-profit hospitals because it postpones increased revenues from expanded coverage of previously uninsured patients, and the subsequent reduction in bad debt and charity care it would bring, a Moody's report said.

With the threat of significant reimbursement losses, hospitals and health systems are feeling the pressure of getting the transition to ICD-10 right.

After watching the failures and successes of other states and HealthCare.gov, Idaho is making its own foray into running an insurance exchange, tapping a young Silicon Valley tech firm and an established Beltway contractor.

The recent delay of the employer mandate for medium-sized businesses will harm not-for-profit hospitals because it postpones increased revenues from expanded coverage of previously uninsured patients and the subsequent reduction in bad debt and charity care it would bring, a Moody's report said.

Since the recession first began in 2008, hospitals and health systems have continually seen a drop in inpatient volumes. Most industry experts say they expect more of the same for the rest of 2014 and even the next five years or so.

Identifying an individual's health plan sounds pretty straightforward. Most hospitals have an eligibility system to verify a patient's coverage for a specific set of services from specific insurance companies. But as coverage expands and gets more complex, so do the pressures on hospitals.