The American College of Radiology (ACR), American Board of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America and the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine have submitted joint comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding proposed implementation of the Medicare/Medicaid program on meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
Written by Jeff Byers
ATLANTA--Healthcare reform isn’t going to happen in the halls of Congress, but through improved data-driven quality throughout the U.S. healthcare system, said Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier, during an educational session Tuesday at HIMSS10.
The proposed Medicaid expansion is characterized as the largest public administration challenge that states have ever faced, but with adequate support from government and private philanthropies, the program has the potential to become a national leader in effective, high-quality care over the next five years, according to a recent article in Health Affairs.
Thirteen state attorneys general have asked Congress to delete from final healthcare reform legislation a provision contained in the Senate’s healthcare bill that would exempt Nebraska from having to pay for newly eligible Medicaid recipients.
A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the Cybersecurity Coordination and Awareness Act of 2009, which included an amendment requiring the National Institute of Standards and Technology to add health IT systems to its cybersecurity research and development.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Friday announced final changes for policy and payment rates during the 2010 calendar year, which, if implemented, could cut by up to 38 percent the amount doctors will receive when they use medical imaging equipment for procedures such as MRI and CT scans. The rule affects more than one million physicians and non-physician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 30 unveiled a revised healthcare reform proposal—H.R. 3692, the Affordable Health Care for America Act—which the Congressional Budget Office estimated carries an $894 billion price tag for the federal government.
The Senate Finance Committee voted today in favor of its version of proposed healthcare reform legislation in a 14-9 vote, including the approval of Olympia Snowe, R.-Me.
The recession has put more people on Medicaid and sharply increased state spending on the program, forcing state officials to cut costs even with help coming from the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Last night, President Barack Obama made his healthcare reform speech to Congress, adamantly expressing his determination to be the final U.S. president to take up this cause.
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The U.S. Senate yesterday passed legislation that will delay the date of a 21.2 percent Medicare payment cut to physicians until Oct.1.
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Monday, February 22 2010
The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Board of Directors has named Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga. and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. as this year’s recipients of the ASRT Award for Excellence in Radiologic Science Advocacy.
Legislation introduced by Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, to hold cardiology practice expense values at the 2009 rates, while allowing other specialty practices to operate at 2010 physician practice information survey values, has garnered 82 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed a $636 billion defense appropriations bill, which included a provision to delay the 21.2 percent reduction in Medicare physician payment until March 2010.
The Federal Trade Commission has announced it is yet again delaying implementation of the Red Flags Rule until June 1, 2010.
With the exception of evaluation and management services, nearly all services that cardiologists perform will see cuts ranging from 10 percent to more than 40 percent for individual services phased in over four years, according to the just-released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule. The cuts will be phased in over a four-year period, which is a slight change from the proposed rule.
Shelagh B. Coutts, MD, was granted the first Distinguished Clinician Scientist 2009 award by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health and AstraZeneca Canada during the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress this week in Edmonton, Alberta.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $538,595 to the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, led by Indiana University, to support a two-year project titled, "Protecting Privacy in Health Research."
Consumer education and advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is urging members of Congress to avoid healthcare-related lobbying and fundraising efforts until after it deals with healthcare reform.
The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) has released the results of a poll by Zogby International that suggests “Americans recognize the value of medical imaging as a critical component of high-quality healthcare.”
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The use of health IT to reduce rehospitalizations will be welcome but also disruptive, said Stephen Jencks, an independent consultant in healthcare safety during a Feb. 24 webinar on the potential use of health IT to mitigate rehospitalizations, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
During the Health IT Standards Committee meeting on Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C., the Clinical Operations Workgroup sought to gather comments on proposed recommendations on implementation specifications for content exchange, vocabulary and code set standards for the Interim Final Rule of meaningful use.
In 2006, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), a branch of the FDA, began examining the number of medical device reports they received. Over the past two years, the number of submitted reports has increased, sparking a demand for the CDRH to make a move to electronic reporting.
A new hospital breaking ground usually isn’t breaking news. But the vision of patient care at one new facility, tentatively named Palomar Medical Center West (PMC West), is currently illegal under California state law.