Financial/Revenue Cycle Management
Hospitals participating in Independence Blue Cross' accountable care contracts are reducing costs, improving care and earning incentives, according to the Philadelphia-based insurer.
2014's second quarter brought with it a boost in earnings for cloud-based EHR company athenahealth, which reported gains this time around after disappointing numbers last quarter. Net losses were also down significantly, company officials announced last week.
Venture capital funding for health information technology surpassed $1 billion for the first time in Q2 2014 -- far surpassed, in fact, with $1.8 billion raised in 161 deals, more than doubling the $861 million raised in the previous quarter.
Record amounts of cash continue to pour into the digital health arena, with the mid year numbers seeing record highs for year-over-year growth, according to a new Rock Health report. The explosive growth in digital health funding, however, has some analysts uneasy over a potential bubble in the market.
The Dorenfest Institute for Health Information has opened up new HIMSS Analytics data, offering insights into the IT usage patterns of thousands of U.S. hospitals and ambulatory clinics.
When a car rolls off an assembly line, the automaker knows exactly what parts, labor and facilities cost. Not so in healthcare, and now some health executives are trying to change that.
Even if the ICD-10 compliance date is farther away than it once was, it will arrive eventually. (For real, this time. We think.) And while you'd be forgiven for taking a foot off the proverbial gas, this is time that should be spent pushing ahead with preparedness plans.
Despite the bad press the Department of Veterans Affairs has received in recent weeks, officials are seeing marked success from their telehealth programs, which have enabled the agency to treat more veterans, reduce hospital admissions and save some serious money.
Anne Arundel Medical Center has been expanding in recent years, and as part of the challenge of optimizing 49 ambulatory practices as part of its network, the health system has had to integrate IT systems -- including the Epic EHRs used at hospitals and the cloud-based athenahealth technology at many of the practices.
As myriad healthcare organizations have attested, the aftermath of a HIPAA violation generally isn't a pretty sight, especially when it comes to one's bank account. One Indiana-based health system has witnessed this reality after being slapped with an $800,000 settlement for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule.