Government & Policy
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its final rules on Medicare Accountable Care Organizations, which bolster the menu of options for providers looking to better coordinate care for patients and aim at making it easier for providers to deliver high quality care and use healthcare dollars more wisely.
The deadline for HIPAA 5010 - Jan. 1, 2012 - is approaching faster than many providers, payers and vendors would like. And, confusion abounds about what “readiness” means, says the Healthcare Billing & Management Association (HBMA).
The U.S. healthcare system scored 64 of a possible 100 on key measures of performance, according to the third national scorecard report from the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System. The report also reveals a poor score on measures of efficiency, showing relatively low use of electronic information systems and high administrative costs.
Eighteen California hospitals, health systems, clinics and physician groups -- many of them catering to underserved populations -- will receive grants totaling nearly $20 million from Blue Shield of California to help them participate more effectively in accountable care organizations (ACOs).
Healthcare IT stakeholders gathered Oct. 14 in Washington for a work meeting, discussing ways IT could help improve transitions in care.
Based on CMS projections combined with an estimated risk rate, the numbers total a sum equal to the loan portfolio write-down by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This top line reimbursement risk could redistribute healthcare wealth enough to trigger bankruptcies, consolidations, mergers, and radical shifts in health IT companies and products.
Will accountable care organizations follow the lead of HIEs in analyzing data across participating providers, or surpass them?
Within the past month, 14 critical access hospitals have joined the Nebraska Health Information Initiative (NeHII), Nebraska's statewide health information exchange.
Rather than competing against each other, RECs and HIEs should be cooperating, and to mutual benefit.
Patrick Ward, CIO of CIRA, discusses implementing IT infrastructure to streamline physician workflow, earn a return on investment and enable the practice to participate in a health information exchange.