Reimbursement

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will provide tailored health and wellness information to its members through interactive, automated phone calls. The goal is to drive behavior change, officials said.

WebMD, a provider of online health information services, has teamed with U.S. Bank Healthcare Payment Solutions to offer the bank's Health Savings Account customers enhanced online health tools.

A five-year ongoing study involving 10 large physician practices across the country has so far shown improved quality of care for chronic disease patients from the use of health information technology.

The Nebraska Health Information Initiative (NeHII) is gearing up for the next level of work with its sights set on statewide implementation, after celebrating the success of its pilot at its annual meeting in July.

Digital games are one of the latest tools being used to improve health outcomes, says one expert.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced late last week that acute care hospitals will receive an inflation update in their payment rates of 2.1 percent in fiscal year 2010.

Looking to distance itself from similar-sounding competitors, the iMedica Corporation has announced a new name and launched a new Web site. The Carrollton, Texas-based developer of electronic health record and practice management systems for physician practices announced that it will now be known as Aprima Medical Software, Inc., and that the Aprima name will be used for the company's EHR/PM solution. The company also unveiled its new Web presence at aprimaEHR.com.

When Community Health Plan of Washington implemented ZeOmega's Jiva care management software in October 2008, the health plan saw the immediate elimination of duplicate assessments being done on the same patients by its use, disease and case management departments, said Sandra Hewett, the plan's delegated services administrator. Some of CHPW's departments have since exceeded the goal of achieving 30 percent improved efficiency through the integration of IT systems, automation of processes and streamlined workflow, she said.

 After a successful pilot in its Hudson, N.Y. region, MVP Healthcare is rolling out McKesson's Advanced Diagnostics Management (ADM) to the rest of its provider network to automate the clinical review and authorization of imaging tests. The two-month pilot has been projected to save an annual $2 million-plus in staff time, enabling staff redeployment for other projects, said Holly Smolinski, assistant director of utilization management at MVP.

Since Geisinger Health Plan began predictive modeling for Health Navigator, its medical home program, nearly two years ago, the payer has seen a decrease in hospital admissions for its high-risk members in disease and case management. The case management team is now applying program resources to its moderate risk and well segments of its membership.