Policy and Legislation
A study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that having Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) to improve care transitions decreased hospitalizations and re-hospitalizations of Medicare beneficiaries by nearly 6 percent over two years.
The U.S. Supreme Court solidified the federal government's authority to limit Medicare reimbursement appeals with a unanimous ruling to deny the claims of a group of hospitals seeking compensation for miscalculated payments going back to the late 1980s.
A battle is brewing between Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney over an online health insurance marketplace that will allow an estimated 250,000 Mississippi residents to shop for coverage and find out if they qualify for government subsidies or Medicaid.
Last week the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it will not challenge a proposal by the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) to offer a gainsharing program to its member hospitals in the state.
The HIPAA Privacy and Security Omnibus final rule should bring some long-awaited clarification and certainty to marketing, fundraising and other aspects of safeguarding and using health information.
Every once in a while, someone writes an article or column blaming doctors for rising healthcare costs. Timothy Norbeck, a 46-year veteran of championing physicians, has seen such finger pointing many times, but a recent article teed him off enough to write a white paper examining the drivers of healthcare costs.
HHS issued modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules late Thursday. The four-part final rule is designed to enhance patients' privacy rights and increase HHS' ability to enforce security protections.
Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation last week that strengthens the state's medical malpractice tort laws and provides additional protection against lawsuits to physicians.
On January 8, 2013, the Obama Administration published its latest semiannual regulatory agenda, outlining planned regulatory initiatives in a number of policy areas.
A trade organization representing chief executive officers from some of the country's top corporations offered a set of Medicare recommendations Wednesday that would potentially save trillions.