Regulation news and information

Project ECHO pairs specialists with primary-care physicians and other clinicians via video teleconferencing to teach primary-care providers how to treat complex, chronic conditions.
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The CMS on Friday released a final rule that lays out the methodology to reduce Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital payments for fiscal years 2014 and 2015.
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A rule that would require medical devices to be marked with unique identifiers is still stuck in the regulatory process, and the delay is drawing complaints from lawmakers and health systems.
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The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board levied sanctions worth about $2 million in fiscal 2013 on groups ranging from DuPage Medical Group, one of the largest physicians groups in the state, to Roseland Community Hospital, a financially struggling safety-net facility on Chicago's...
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A new study of electronic cigarettes offers the first clinical evidence of their effectiveness in helping tobacco smokers quit, though it does not address their safety.
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The Obama administration has basically told House Republican lawmakers to go fly a kite in response to their recent demand that organizations receiving federal funds to help Americans sign up for health coverage on the state insurance exchanges provide extensive information on their operations by...
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Electronic cigarettes worked just as well as nicotine patches to help smokers quit, according to the first study to compare them.
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It's the little things that add up. Like the minutes it takes annually to deal with each patient's HIPAA notice of privacy practices for protected healthcare information. Annually, that task eats up about 30.7 million hours of healthcare workers' and...
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The cost savings are attractive, but coming up with the money for a combined heat and power system, known a cogeneration, is a significant barrier.
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CMS officials know that Medicare patients spend too much time with the murky status of outpatient observation, which leaves them on the hook for higher out-of-pocket costs. But a rule going into effect Oct. 1 may do little if anything to reverse the trend. Experts warn it may prompt hospitals to...
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