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One of the major components of the Affordable Care Act addressing the cost of care got underway Jan. 1 after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unveiled it picks for the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization program, which government officials say could save Medicare as much as $1.1 billion.

Mary Ann Freas Chief Financial Officer Southwest General Health Center Middleburg Heights, Ohio

Successful payer contracting is one of the many important duties for safeguarding the long-term financial stability of a hospital-based physician practice. Whether contracts are self-renewing year-to-year or contain end dates that force physicians and payers to renegotiate agreements regularly, the payer dictates the terms unless the practice is prepared for negotiations. There are many factors to a successful negotiation – from the gathering and familiarity with practice data, thoroughly understanding existing payer agreements, to sheer persistence.

U.S. healthcare spending has grown dangerously out of control. Or has it? According to a recent analysis by McKinsey and Company, total spending on U.S. healthcare in 2009 was $2.5 trillion, equivalent to 17.6 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The U.S. spends more on healthcare, per capita and as a share of GDP, than any other nation in the world.

Traditional banks have been lukewarm when it comes to deploying capital in the healthcare industry—a sector known for its regulatory complexities and reimbursement risk even during the best of times.

U.S. healthcare spending has grown dangerously out of control. Or has it? According to a recent analysis by McKinsey and Company, total spending on U.S. healthcare in 2009 was $2.5 trillion, equivalent to 17.6 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The U.S. spends more on healthcare, per capita and as a share of GDP, than any other nation in the world.

When Kris Appel, founder and president of Encore Path, a Baltimore-based medical device company, looked for investors to help her get the company’s debut product, a stroke rehabilitation device called Tailwind, on the market, she turned to angel investors, individuals who invest their own money in entrepreneurial endeavors.

When nurses feel engaged and respected by their co-workers in a positive physical work environment, their perception of the quality of care given to their patients is much higher, according to a recent study that researched ways to improve nurses’ work environments without increasing nurse-to-patient ratios and overspending.

It sounds like such a good idea: essential health benefits, a core set of health services that must be included in any health insurance plans sold in this country and aimed at guaranteeing that health plans sold in the state insurance exchanges aren’t empty promises.

Nearly all healthcare organizations that use quality performance measures included measures endorsed by the National Quality Forum, according to a new study.