Policy and Legislation
For the third straight month the number of Americans who continue to smoke topped 21 percent, despite the fact that access to life's basic necessities such as food, shelter, medicine and healthcare reached a four-year low, according to the October 2011 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (WBI).
If healthcare organizations are going to achieve reductions in medical errors, hospital-acquired infections and hospital readmissions, folks are going to have to work together and senior leadership at those organizations must engage patients and their families in the effort.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are giving payers, providers and vendors a bit of a break. It has instituted a 90-day grace period for HIPAA 5010. January 1, 2012 is still the compliance date, but CMS said it will not "initiate enforcement action" on that compliance before March 31, 2012.
The cost of health insurance is outstripping income growth in all 50 states says a new report released today by the Commonwealth Fund.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced Tuesday that the Obama administration has decreased improper payments by $17.6 billion dollars in 2011.
PwC's Health Research Institute has predicted the top 10 issues facing healthcare in 2012. Insurance exchanges, consumer trepidation, drug shortages and the need for organizations to prove value promise to be among the hallmarks of a 'seminal' year.
The American Medical Association (AMA) on Tuesday said that its delegates are working to stop implementation of ICD-10.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has launched the Health Care Innovation Challenge, which will award $1 billion in grants in March to test inventive and compelling methods to deliver high quality medical care at lower costs to individuals enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
The ranks of American adults without health insurance is now 17.3 percent of the population, a rate that is the highest on record, according to a Gallup poll measuring uninsurance rates in the third quarter.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the Medicare revalidation deadline for providers and suppliers to 2015.