News

With the advent of new technology, healthcare providers are taking a closer look at their accounts receivable practices. What had traditionally been a back-end process is now being pushed to the front, allowing providers to arrange for and secure payment before the patient leaves the office.

Not all healthcare IT innovations concern patient care – an important fact to consider when providers are looking to streamline costs.

Both the House and Senate are incorporating value-based insurance design elements into their health insurance reform bills.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be awarding high-risk pool grants this month to states looking to cover operational losses and fund disease management and other programs.

According to a new study, obesity comprises 9.1 percent of all medical spending in the United States, up from 6.5 percent in 1998.

While the Chicago medical community is more consolidated than most large cities, the physician segment is likely to contract even more in the future, reports HealthLeaders-InterStudy.

Social networking sites are usually taboo in the workplace, but the launch of Delta-Exchange could encourage their use in the physician’s office.

While the Medicare competitive bidding program is set to restart in October, a recent study indicates the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services drastically misread the marketplace and that the current competitive bidding program reduces overall competition and hurts the quality of patient care.

Some physicians are afraid or unable to switch to electronic claims submission, while others are worried about the cost. Office Ally hopes to ease that burden by offering a free clearinghouse service to physicians. All revenues come from insurance companies and IPAs. Internet access is all it takes to participate.

In a paper published recently in the journal Health Affairs, health policy researchers are proposing a new method of allocating Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital payments.