Government & Policy

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has awarded $2.6 million to DiaSorin – an Italy-based biotechnology company with offices in Stillwater, Minnesota – to further develop its Zika diagnostic tool.

More than a dozen medical groups including the American Medical Association, Medical Group Management Association, American College of Surgeons and others, have sent the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on August 22 imploring it to quickly make the proposed 90-day reporting period a final rule.

HHS initiative to re-focus on incidents affecting fewer than 500 patients.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that the grace period will end as planned and come Oct. it will end the flexibilities it granted hospitals and coders thus far.

Florida Department of Health officials say they believe active transmissions are still only happening within the initial one-square mile in Miami-Dade, identified on July 29.

The funding, which comes from Affordable Care Act, will go toward quality improvement efforts that engage patients and improve care coordination.

Officials in Arkansas are in talks to change the rule prohibiting direct-to-consumer telehealth consults. In Texas, meanwhile, the e-Health Alliance is driving legislation to mandate that licensing boards coordinate appropriate rules. 

Aetna stepped out of Affordable Care Act marketplaces and it's not the only company doing so. Humana, UnitedHealthcare and several Blues will also be selling in fewer regions when the fourth enrollment period opens this fall. 

For meaningful use and MACRA, the government uses an IEEE description of interoperability that pre-dates today’s crop of EHRs. Whether or not that will carry the healthcare industry into the future is a matter of some debate.

Under the settlement, the EHR-vendor will be closely monitored by the FTC for compliance and liable for up to $40,000 in penalties for any violation.