Our Coverage White House presses savings in reform packages Senate votes along party lines to move reform bill forward With final votes locked up, Senate reform bill set to advance More Coverage »

President Barack Obama

Other Sources Obama aides meet to discuss reform Reid takes ownership of healthcare overhaul Poll finds support for curbs on malpractice lawsuits More Coverage »

Economic Stimulus Package

IT effect on patients, providers most vital: Blumenthal

Proposed rules on the meaningful use of electronic health records will be made public by the end of the year or perhaps sooner, said David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information... ... FULL STORY

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Reader Comments

Medicare coding system needs to addressed

The system for insurance companies and Medicare is so complex that you need a large office staff to submit, resubmit, and resubmit again claims. It costs thousands of dollars to buy the tome listing... ... FULL STORY

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Essays on Reform

Expect new payment model to emerge Tom Enders

Pharmacists can help rein in costs Bruce Roberts and Ricky Guidry

Delivery system needs to be re-examined Harvey Billig

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Modern Healthcare Coverage Critics pan screenings report Measure pushes stricter background checks More Coverage »

Hybrid ORs could be in your future.

Resources Update on breast-cancer screening Institute of Medicine More Coverage »

Reader Exchange

Eager for more articles on IOM nursing study

The IOM published a report in June 2009 called Initial National Priorities for Comparative Effectiveness Research, which I read with interest and noted that no nurses were included on the IOM... ... FULL STORY

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	Disaster Preparedness What's the game plan? EHRs, disaster planning seen as key help for seniors More Coverage »			Flu Fight Flu activity dips but is still above normal: CDC Judge lets HCA continue with vaccine mandate More Coverage »
	Healthcare Hurricane $212 million in compensation for La. hospitals Plans to reopen New Orleans hospital announced More Coverage »			Infection Control Drug-resistant bacteria increasing, researchers say AHRQ launches health infection-focused Web page More Coverage »

Most Requested This Week GAO cites 'pervasive deficiencies' in CMS internal controls Video Feature: The economic and medical forces changing outpatient care, part 1 ONC announces $80 million in grants to support HIT workforce St. Joseph's Hospital terminates CEO, CFO Cleveland Clinic set to start $98 million Avon medical center Most Requested This Month »

Most Requested Charts/Lists Largest medical group practices 100 Top Hospitals: 2009 Largest healthcare management consultants Hospital systems ranked by net patient revenue Largest healthcare finance companies

Modern Physician				Health IT Strategist
Doc groups vow to lobby hard for SGR fix in Senate Indiana exchange debuts data-monitoring service FTC decided Scott & White deal bad for competition Modern Physician Reader Forum » More Modern Physician »				Mediware buys two HIT companies for $5.5 million Holiday note, weekend news reminder Tenn. Blues still investigating Oct. data breach HITS Reader Forum » HITS News » HITS Reader Poll »

INTERNATIONAL NEWS				OUTLIERS ONLINE
Recession seen putting brakes on medical tourism SEC asks HCA for information about U.K. dispute Lee named CEO at China Health Care Epidemic exposes hospital flaws in Argentina Building in China More International News »				What's on Santa's wish list? H1N1 vaccine Forget cookies and milk. Santa wants the swine flu vaccine. ... FULL STORY More Outliers »

Reporter's Notebook Are we there yet? Submit a comment » More Reporter's Notebooks » Rebecca Vesely				Guest Commentary There's no place like home health Submit a comment » More Guest Commentaries » Billie Papasifakis
Daily Dialogue Reader Forum Medicare coding system needs to addressed Submit a comment » More Daily Dialogue » Take latest reader poll »				HITS Reader Forum MGMA letter offers thoughtful suggestions for change Submit a comment » More Reader Forum » Take HITS reader poll »

From the C-Suite Squash the bugs ... Deborah Friberg Infections hurt patients and represent one of the primary opportunities in healthcare to improve outcomes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year 1.7 million patients get sick from an infection they contract while in the hospital, and 100,000 of them die.   Submit a comment » More From the C-Suite » OPINION LEADERS SURVEY This is the fourth installment for 2009 of the Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Opinion Leaders Survey. More survey results can be found at the Commonwealth Fund's Web site, commonwealthfund.org. Slow spending, improve quality Gail Wilensky With so much attention being given to healthcare reform—which unfortunately seems to have morphed into health insurance reform—it's essential to remember the importance of reforming...   Don't take it for granted Bruce Vladeck Just as in 1993, when the architects of health reform initially took Medicare for granted and then scrambled to address beneficiaries' concerns, Washington finds itself caught up in the fog of...   Mission Medicare In its 44-year history, Medicare has been effective at providing access to medical care and predictable coverage for its beneficiaries. Now it’s time for the federal program to use its...   More Opinion Leaders Surveys » Reader Poll View Past Polls »   Submissions/Nominations/Events Exec IT survey now available Nominations now accepted for 2010 Health Care Hall of Fame award Send nominations for 50 Most Powerful physician executives Annual construction and design survey now open Trustee of the Year nominations now open

Legislating Access Modern Healthcare is tracking the state and national proposals to expand access to health benefits for the uninsured and underinsured. This section on Modern Healthcare Online will be updated with each new proposal. Submit comments on any or all of the proposals to mheditorial@modernhealthcare.com. Senate reform package unveiled Sen. Harry Reid Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) raised the curtain on a 10-year $849 billion health overhaul package that melds components of two separate Senate bills that collectively have driven a... Other proposals: Federal Proposals » State Proposals » EXTRA! EXTRA! CEO roundtable: outpatient care Modern Healthcare's fall 2009 CEO roundtable examines the many forces reshaping outpatient-care services. Participating in the discussion were Marty Bonick, above left, president and CEO of Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky.; Michele Molden, president and CEO of the Piedmont Heart Institute in Atlanta; and Randy Oostra, CEO of ProMedica Health System based in Toledo, Ohio. The entire discussion is available on video or in a complete transcript. Read the story Read the complete transcript View the video