Patty Enrado
Healthcare IT has always been about improving clinical outcomes and driving workflow efficiencies, both of which create cost savings. With the economic downturn in full swing and the $19.2 billion in healthcare IT investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act coming down the pipe, expect that message to resound throughout the Exhibit Hall at the HIMSS09, April 3-8.
Across the board, independent hospitals, ambulatory care facilities and hospitals in a health system are still pursuing their CPOE and electronic medical record projects, according to a Health Industry Insights survey.
Statewide and regional health information exchange initiatives see the federal stimulus package as a new source of healthcare IT funding.
Medversant and America’s Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, have formed a business services partnership to address the complex and time-consuming process of verifying provider credentials for payers.
The Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act, or MIPAA, of 2008 was passed by Congress to increase plan transparency and federal oversight, and limit costs of Medicare Advantage, also known as MA plans.
Healthcare IT investors are still sitting on their hands as they continue to face a bleak scenario of low company valuations, a panel at the Health Tech Investment Forum Tuesday in San Francisco concluded.
The federal stimulus package for healthcare IT targets providers, but the influx of funding is in areas where payers have been active.
The economic decline is continuing to pummel hospitals in the form of reduction of reimbursements, rise of uninsured patients and decrease in number of elective procedures for insured patients.
Amid the "most perilous time we've ever seen," healthcare IT and innovation can drive fundamental changes in the U.S. healthcare system, David Brailer, MD, former federal healthcare IT czar, told attendees at the Health Tech Investment Forum here on Tuesday.
The economic decline is continuing to pummel hospitals in the form of reduction of reimbursements, rise of uninsured patients and decrease in number of elective procedures for insured patients.