Although roundly denounced by the American Hospital Association when it was announced by the CMS last August, a new Medicare reimbursement policy now seems to have drawn a practiced ambivalence among hospitals, which say that efforts to improve...
Movie fans may recall the recurring theme of the “no-win scenario” in the film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” A Starfleet cadet is vexed by an officer training simulation that has no solution and always results in virtual death. Pressed by the...
The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics has approved a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, again recommending that patients be able to control the movement of some of their healthcare information over a proposed national health...
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission drafted language recommending that Congress increase payments for doctors who provide primary-care services. This budget-neutral payment adjustment for primary-care services would be billed under Medicare’s...
Although roundly denounced by the American Hospital Association when it was announced by the CMS last August, a new Medicare reimbursement policy now seems to have drawn a practiced ambivalence among hospitals, which say that efforts to improve...
As hospitals grapple with new CMS guidelines limiting reimbursement for care related to errors, they also are trying to get ready for increased use of pay-for-performance-based reimbursement by Medicare.
A new Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report indicating that the rates of quality and safety improvement are slowing down shows how myriad providers of quality data are ill-prepared to measure consistently and fairly the progress...
Behavioral health providers got what they were waiting for and physician-owned hospital providers got pretty much what they expected when the U.S. House passed mental-health parity legislation last week.
In a surprise move last week, nine of the largest providers of health insurance under the Medicare Advantage program and the trade group that represents them agreed to tighten marketing and sales rules that federal lawmakers said have become far too...
Healthcare supply-chain experts said it’s too soon to know whether hospitals and other healthcare facilities will be seriously challenged by the recent removal of nearly half of all available heparin products from the U.S. market.
The recent appointment of a high-ranking Duke University healthcare official to the board of medical-device maker Medtronic, Minneapolis, has been well-vetted and poses no conflicts of interest for the university, according to officials at both...
The naming of physician informaticist John Halamka to the board of directors of information technology company SafeMed, San Diego, creates a situation where he must walk a fine line, according to one governance expert.
The Breakaway Group, Denver, a consulting firm that helps healthcare providers adopt new technology and equipment, has landed the chief information officer of San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare as one of five new members for its unpaid advisory board.
The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics has approved a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, again recommending that patients be able to control the movement of some of their healthcare information over a proposed national health...
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Presbyterian Healthcare applied to the state Division of Health Service Regulation for a certificate of need for a $48.2 million renovation and expansion project of 536-bed Presbyterian Hospital, Charlotte. The project...
ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—Englewood Hospital and Medical Center plans to break ground on a new building on March 13 to house a 35,000-square-foot emergency-care center. Named the Kaplen Pavilion, it will be nearly three times the size of the existing...
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.—St. Francis Medical Center said it plans to build a combined center for cancer and heart care on its campus at a cost of $84 million. The center will be financed through a combination of bonds and hospital reserves. The...
SALEM, Ore.—Close to 92,000 Oregonians are hoping to be among the few thousand who will be selected randomly this month to receive health insurance through the Oregon Health Plan. New enrollment in the state’s standard plan for low-income...
VICTORVILLE, Calif.—Prime Healthcare Services has made a reputation in Southern California for tough dealing with managed-care organizations. Last week, however, the nine-hospital company signed its first companywide deal with a commercial...
Over the years the Food and Drug Administration has been portrayed variously as sharing a corrupt bed with the industries it regulates, being notoriously inefficient or doing the best it can with limited resources and an overwhelming mandate. Never...
Regarding the Reporter’s Notebook on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society meeting (“HIMSS gets Googled,” at modernhealthcare.com): The conference theme song, “Our Time Is Now,” represents for some of us that consumers are...
Perhaps even more than other students, many young people entering medical school are full of idealism and social-mindedness. After all, what greater career path is there than helping others who need medical treatment?
Rene Lerer was named president and CEO of Magellan Health Services, a behavioral health, radiology and specialty pharmacy company based in Avon, Conn. Lerer, 52, had been president and COO at the company since 2002. He succeeds Steven...
Negotiations have resumed between the Metrocrest Hospital Authority of Farmers Branch, Texas, and Hospital Partners of America to develop physician-partnership arrangements for 149-bed Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton, Texas, and 118-bed RHD...
Four thousand dollars may be a pittance in the world of healthcare, but a lawsuit filed by a Providence, R.I.-based charity in November contends that Rhode Island Hospital's failure to honor the terms of a donation in that amount has denied...
