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The business of healthcare is complex and is often not clearly understood by the patient or even by the medical office staff. Here are five steps that medical practices should take to help patients understand medical bills and be better prepared to handle them.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Aug. 7 released an interim final rule for making healthcare claim payments electronically and describing adjustments to claim payments. The department expects this next step in the adoption of operating rules to save up to $9 billion over the next 10 years.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill Monday designed to control the state's healthcare costs. Included in the legislation is an overhaul of the medical liability system, which proponents say will decrease the cost of defensive medicine.
For hospitals looking to transform into accountable care organizations (ACOs), the transition can be overwhelming. So much so, said Brent Dover, president at HIE technology company Medicity, that it's basically like becoming a mini insurance company.
Survey respondents expect the trend of employers increasingly shifting health insurance cost to employees to continue.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a new rule she says will cut red tape for doctors, hospitals and health plans. In combination with a previously issued regulation, she estimates the rule will save up to $9 billion over the next 10 years.
According to a recent study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, nurse burnout has been linked to higher rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which therefore costs hospitals millions of additional dollars each year.
A new survey of 200 healthcare provider CEOs shows that nearly half haven't identified a potential successor to the top management spot at their organization and only 17 percent feel they have someone who is prepared to step into the top spot.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will penalize hospitals for readmissions beginning this autumn. As a result, many healthcare providers are taking a cold hard look at their bottom line in an effort to meet or exceed projected targets for the year. The difficult part, of course, is that each healthcare provider has its own unique challenges. There is no "one size fits all" solution.
A trio of conservative health economists say that while the 2010 federal health law aims to slow health spending through programs such as value-based purchasing and bundled payments, it fails to fundamentally alter the healthcare financing system.