Topic

Healthcare Reform


Health Affairs: EMR transition could take some time

Industry News | Friday, August 27 2010
The adoption of basic or comprehensive EHR systems by U.S. hospitals increased from 8.7 percent in 2008 to 11.9 percent in 2009, but only 2 percent of hospitals met the federal meaningful use standards needed to qualify for government financial incentives, according to an article published Aug. 26 in an advance online edition of Health Affairs.
 

Trizetto buys outsourcing company Tela Sourcing

Mergers & Acquisitions | Friday, August 27 2010
The TriZetto Group has acquired all of the voting stock of Tela Sourcing, a business process outsourcing services company based in Baltimore.
 

CMS issues guidance for state Medicaid IT implementation

Top Stories | Monday, August 23 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing guidance for state Medicaid directors and agencies regarding the implementation of CMS’ final regulations to allow the payment of incentives to eligible professionals and hospitals to promote the adoption and meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
 

AHRA: The Economy, Healthcare Reform & the Need for Collaboration Dominate Annual Meeting

Features | Monday, July 19 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
The setting for the 2010 annual meeting of the AHRA: association for medical imaging management—Washington, D.C.—couldn’t be more appropriate. As always, the meeting will focus on executive-level radiology management strategies, but this year, Beltway initiatives, including healthcare reform and new regulations, will take center stage.
 

HHS approves Florida data mining waiver to identify Medicaid fraud

Industry News | Friday, July 16 2010
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has approved the state of Florida’s Medicaid waiver request to help fund a demonstration program that will allow the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to mine Medicaid Management Information System data to identify cases of potential Medicaid fraud.
 

HIT Standards Committee: The search for NHIN governance is on

Top Stories | Wednesday, June 30 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
Without governance, the National Healthcare Information Network (NHIN) exchange cannot expand beyond specific categories of participants because these are currently limited by legal guidance, stated Mary Jo Deering, PhD, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Office of Policy and Planning, NHIN Policy and Governance during her presentation on NHIN governance at the Health IT Standards Committee meeting this week.
 

Dollars & Sense: Keeping Your Practice Financially Viable

Features | Monday, June 21 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
In today’s climate of diminishing reimbursement and the continuous battle to hold onto referrals and contracts, radiology practices are focused on providing superior radiology services and being fiscally fit. While there are many reasons why a radiology practice—especially those offering outpatient imaging services—can falter, practices that are thriving are carefully blending a combination of politics, patient research and preparation for the long-haul.
 

HIMSS: Road to healthcare reform paved by health IT

Conference News | Friday, June 11 2010
Lately, healthcare reform and health IT has been a “high-priority legislative issue,” and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) believes that healthcare reform can be enabled by leveraging health IT, explained David W. Roberts, MPA, vice president of HIMSS Government Relations, during a legislative update session of the HIMSS virtual conference on June 9.
 

Feature: Virginia AG defends standing in healthcare reform case

Web Exclusives | Wednesday, June 09 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
The Commonwealth of Virginia responded this week to the federal government’s attempt to dismiss the state’s lawsuit against the new federal healthcare law in an attempt to move the case of Commonwealth of Virginia v. Kathleen Sebelius forward. Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli now awaits the July 1 court date that will determine whether his case has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the healthcare reform bill under the Commerce Clause.
 

Sebelius to grant $51M for state insurance premium review

Industry News | Tuesday, June 08 2010
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced the availability of $51 million in Health Insurance Premium Review Grants through the Affordable Care Act.
 

SIIM: GE previews Centricity Dashboard

Conference News | Monday, June 07 2010
MINNEAPOLIS--GE Healthcare offered a sneak peek at its Centricity Dashboard as a work in progress in advance of a release slated for late 2010, during the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) annual conference this week
 

Florida judge denies HHS extension in healthcare reform case

Top Stories | Monday, June 07 2010
A District Court judge in Florida  has denied the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) request for additional time to file a motion to dismiss an amended complaint in the case of State of Florida v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a case that questions the constitutionality of the health reform law.
 

HHS grants $84M for EHR adoption for health center controlled networks

Top Stories | Friday, June 04 2010
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced $83.9 million in grants to help Health Center Controlled Networks adopt EHRs and other health IT systems.
 

SIIM opens with imaging informatics year-in-review

Conference News | Thursday, June 03 2010
Written by Lisa Fratt
MINNEAPOLIS—The SIIM 2010 annual meeting opened with an overview of breakthroughs and advances in imaging informatics, including a sneak peek at highlights related to the eight learning tracks at the show: integrating IT and images, communication of patient data, 3D and processing of CT and MR, digital radiography, cloud-based storage, security and privacy issues, political aspects of healthcare reform and the role of informatics.
 

Report calls for re-engineering US healthcare

Industry News | Wednesday, May 19 2010
The nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress is calling on all stakeholders to build on the framework of recent healthcare legislation.
 

HRS: Experts debate doc involvement, quality measures in healthcare reform

Top Stories | Tuesday, May 18 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
DENVER—The six-week-old healthcare reform legislation aroused a heated debate between former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., NPR journalist Juan Williams and physicians Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, and Richard I. Fogel, MD, who discussed government involvement and the questions that remain about quality measures within clinical practice, during the opening plenary session of the 31st annual conference of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) on May 13.
 

iCAD losses up, revenues down in Q1

Financial News | Friday, April 30 2010
iCAD has reported that it lost $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2010, compared with the $1 million net loss posted in the same quarter a year ago.
 

Blumenthal gets personal, calls for teamwork among health IT pros

Top Stories | Thursday, April 29 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
BOSTON–Only through its proper use can technology boost healthcare improvement, said David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health IT, during his keynote address Thursday at the Health IT: Creating Jobs, Reducing Costs and Improving Quality national conference, hosted by Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick.
 

Premier allocates $86M for health data, informatics overhaul

Industry News | Thursday, April 29 2010
Premier healthcare alliance, which consists of more than 2,300 U.S. hospitals and 66,000 healthcare sites, has launched a new health IT plan that will seek to leverage its hospitals performance improvement data and knowledge sharing.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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