Quality and Safety
Those familiar with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Recovery Audit Contractor program say the RAC audits haven't been as bad as was predicted when the controversial program was launched in late 2009.
Amid a falling stock market, nuclear disaster and the difficult recovery efforts following last week's massive earthquake and devastating tsunami in Japan, several healthcare companies with facilities on the island nation are saying they and their workers are relatively unscathed and that they are keeping a close eye on the evolving situation there.
Anthem Blue Cross and two medical groups from Sharp HealthCare will launch a pilot accountable care organization focused on serving Anthem's San Diego-based group, small group and individual plan PPO members.
The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative has launched a new Center for Accountable Care. The goal, according to PCPCC officials, is to help ensure that a strong, robust, patient-centered primary care model is at the foundation of accountable care organizations nationwide as a way to deliver better care and lower costs.
It has been nearly one year since President Obama signed healthcare reform into law, and it appears many people are more confused and stressed about the future of healthcare than when we first started down this path.
Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Kaiser Permanente Northern California were the only health plans to earn the maximum four stars for "meeting national standards of care" in the just-released HMO Quality Report from the California Office of the Patient Advocate.
The Carilion Clinic, the largest healthcare provider in southwest Virginia, has announced plans to collaborate with Aetna in an accountable care organization.
Nearly half a million patients in New York's Hudson Valley are now associated with a patient-centered medical home, created in part with $1.5 million in incentives provided by six health plans organized by the Taconic Health Information Network and Community.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has certified a class action lawsuit against one of the world's largest distributors of pharmaceuticals. The San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation has been accused of inflating the prices of hundreds of brand-name prescription drugs, including some of the most prescribed, such as Prozac and Lipitor.
Thirteen new guidelines for the patient-centered medical home recognition and accreditation program have been released by the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians and American Osteopathic Association.