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Building on what it has learned over the past few years in numerous patient-centered medical home pilots, WellPoint announced in late January plans to increase primary care physician reimbursements by 10 percent, a move the company believes will create healthier members and significant future healthcare savings.

The Florida Chapter of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) has been taken up a fight against Medicare pre-payment audits first announced by the state's Medicare Administrative Contractor, Jacksonville, Fla.-based First Coast Service Options.

When Wes Bledsoe the co-founder of Oklahoma City-based citizen’s advocacy group, A Perfect Cause, gets into heated discussions about allowing sex offenders to reside in nursing homes, he is not above using shock value to get his point across. “Put them in day care centers with children,” he says.

With the number of audits on the rise and a controversial expansion looming, the National Recovery Audit Contractor program - the government's effort to cut down Medicare overpayments, errors and fraud - is at the forefront this year for healthcare administrators.

One of the solutions consistently offered to the problems of increasing healthcare costs and the shortage of primary care physicians is allowing advance practice registered nurses (APRNs), such as nurse practitioners, to practice independently. States considering such legislation are finding it's a hotly debated issue that often pits APRNs against physicians.

The recently released report, "The Financial Impact of Breached Protected Health Information: A Business Case for Enhanced PHI Security," highlights the need for organizations to adopt a new method to evaluate the value of PHI, said the leaders of the PHI Project. Along with a five-step method featured in the report, six additional findings help stakeholders understand the influences behind finances and breached PHI.

Leading up to Tuesday's primary in Tennessee, Republican candidates have focused on repealing the ACA as a big part of the party's economic agenda.

Credit card companies, airlines and hotels all have customer loyalty programs. Maybe it was only a matter of time before hospitals got in on the act.

A recent American Hospital Association survey shows that American community hospitals saw profits rise by more than 50 percent in 2010, a trend projected to be somewhat short-lived.

Common surgeries for workplace injuries generally cost less in states that have adopted per-procedure fee schedules, versus states that don’t use fee schedules, according to a recent report by a Massachusetts-based industry research group.