Diana Manos

"Stage 1 is tough but not too tough. Stages 2 and 3 are darn tough," says Laura Kreofsky, principal advisor at Naperville, Ill.-based Impact Advisors. By making Stage 1 so much easier than Stage 2, in some ways, CMS has set a false sense of security for providers.

Ever since the updated HIPAA rule took effect last March, some hospital IT departments see themselves as "the HIPAA police," clamping down in ways that the rule doesn't require, says one industry expert.

Healthcare organizations will need to be more effective, cost efficient and productive in the future to not only survive, but also to maintain positive cash flows, according to Brian Fugere, COO of RemitDATA.

The Senate Finance committee on April 23 unanimously approved Marilyn Tavenner to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Tavenner, who has been temporarily running CMS for the past two years, must now face a full Senate vote before she can officially take on the CMS Administrator position.

At the annual TEDMED conference on April 16, speakers in the opening session shared stories and innovative ideas on how big data could influence the future of medicine.

Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, received accolades from both sides of the aisle at a hearing on Tuesday to consider her nomination as head of CMS. Senate Finance Committee leaders indicated a decision would come soon.

The acting CMS administrator's hearing comes as lawmakers in Washington are under increasing pressure regarding Medicare and Medicaid budgetary issues.

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing April 9, beginning at 10 a.m., to consider President Barack Obama's nomination of Marilyn B. Tavenner for administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Robert Jarrin, senior director of government affairs at Qualcomm Incorporated -- like most people involved in the mHealth world -- is waiting with bated breath for the Food and Drug Administration to finalize its mobile medical apps guidance.

National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari and the federal Health IT Policy Committee on April 3 took a hard look at a new vendor-led coalition to promote interoperability, called the CommonWell Health Alliance.