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In 2010, the Veterans Administration launched the Blue Button, a standards format that allows simple exchange of a patient's personal health data. Initially designed for use by veterans, the idea has taken off in the private sector and has been supported by at least one major care provider overseas.
Letters of intent are due today from those interested in participating in the CMS Innovation Center's Health Care Innovation Challenge, which promises up to $1 billion for new ideas that improve care, shift incentives and help train a newly-focused healthcare workforce.
Three of the top six most significant data breaches of 2011 took place in the healthcare industry says the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit consumer protection and advocacy organization.
Pharmaceutical companies outsourced $36.6 billion in global research and development expenses to contract drug developers in 2011, up 6.6 percent from 2009, according to healthcare research firm Kalorama Information.
As President Barack Obama noted Thursday when introducing proposed regulations for minimum wage and overtime protection for home healthcare workers, the home healthcare workforce is the largest and fastest growing in the country. A new analysis finds that required training for some of these workers has gone largely unchanged in almost 25 years.
HHS said its approach is designed to make sure that consumers have quality and affordable coverage starting in 2014.
TriZetto Chief Medical Officer Jeff Rideout recently spoke with Healthcare Payer News Editor Chris Anderson about how data will play a part in redesigning the healthcare landscape and the readiness of both payers and providers to collaborate on these changes.
U.S. healthcare prices increased in November 2011, rising 0.4 percent over October prices, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
President Barack Obama yesterday gave home healthcare workers a boost of confidence when he announced his administration is proposing minimum wage and overtime protections for the country's nearly 2 million home care workers.
The Department of Health and Human Services has the power to publicize and review insurance premium rate hikes over 10 percent. In the past few months, many insurance companies have come under fire for excessive rate hikes. Healthcare Finance News asked its readers their opinion on HHS' rate review process.