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State exchanges report strong interest from young people October 15, 2013 A few states running their own insurance exchanges are touting high levels of interest from young people, a demographic group widely viewed as the linchpin of the healthcare reform law's success.
Geography affects what drugs seniors are prescribed October 16, 2013 Where seniors live makes a difference not only in how much healthcare they receive but also the medications they're prescribed—as some miss out on key treatments while others get risky ones.
A period of adjustment October 12, 2013 Post-acute providers such as nursing homes are facing the kind of managed-care growing pains hospitals experienced in the 1990s.
White House projected strong health plan signups October 16, 2013 The Obama administration's internal projections called for strong enrollment in the states in the first year of new health insurance markets, according to unpublished estimates obtained by the AP.
CMS extends PQRS sign-up deadline October 16, 2013 Medical groups with 100 physicians or more were given an extra three days to register for the CMS Physician Quality Reporting System, formerly known as the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative.
14 health startups get into 3-year incubator program October 16, 2013 StartUp Health, a New York-based incubator for health technology startups, admitted 14 new companies into its three-year development program this week. The program, which received 1,200 applications in the past year, aims to give new medical companies long-term mentoring and access to capital.
Quest Diagnostics to offer genetic tests for breast cancer risk October 16, 2013 Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest clinical laboratories in the U.S., started offering BRCA testing this week as it seeks to tap into the lucrative breast cancer genetic testing market. But Quest and other companies that plan to offer less-expensive testing still face legal battles with the...
Most healthcare provisions stripped from government-shutdown deal October 16, 2013 U.S. Senate leaders have agreed on a deal acceptable to the White House to end the government shutdown and temporarily raise the nation's debt ceiling, with almost all healthcare provisions stripped out. The deal would fund the government at current levels through Jan. 15, continuing the budget...
Dignity, Optum form revenue cycle management company October 14, 2013 Dignity Health, a large and expanding health system based in San Francisco, has formed a revenue cycle management company in a joint venture with Optum, a subsidiary of insurer UnitedHealth Group.
WellStar latest to work with Walgreen retail clinics October 16, 2013 WellStar Health System's urgent-care centers and physicians will work with retail clinics in eight Walgreen Co. stores to expand the scope of services available and help manage the treatment of chronic diseases.
Providers threaten lawsuits October 12, 2013 Healthcare providers are threatening to sue insurers that pass along a 2% rate cut imposed on their Medicare Advantage plan payments under the federal budget sequestration law.
Hospitals with expensive tech, high patient satisfaction have highest-paid CEOs October 14, 2013 What not-for-profit hospitals pay their CEOs has little to do with financial performance or quality scores, but the top executives generally make more at hospitals with expensive technology and high marks in patient satisfaction, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
A make-or-break year for health IT October 12, 2013 Information technology officers and their CEOs will be forced to make some tough choices in the months ahead. On a battlefield, it is called triage.
Effort connects medical homes with 'essential' IT tools October 14, 2013 While the patient-centered medical home has been touted as the foundation for a better coordinated and more efficient healthcare system, experts now say medical home practices need to be connected to other parts of the healthcare system. To this end, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative...
Group looks to IOM to help reduce diagnosis errors October 15, 2013 It's not easy to start a movement, but a new group of physicians and healthcare researchers are hoping to do so. They are looking to the Institute of Medicine to bolster their efforts to reduce diagnosis errors that lead to delayed or inappropriate treatments.
Hospitals play with Medicare patients' status October 13, 2013 A growing number of senior citizens are ensnared in a Medicare crackdown on hospitals over costly inpatient admissions.
Most frequently billed Medicare DRGs October 12, 2013 A list of healthcare's 20 most frequently billed Medicare DRGs, ranked by 2011 Medicare patient discharges. Source: Truven Health Analytics. Published Oct. 14, 2013, p. 32.
Device-tax repeal surfaces as key in budget stalemate October 12, 2013 There are growing signs that repeal of the medical-device tax, fervently sought by the politically potent device industry, may be a key element in resolving the impasse in Congress over the budget and raising the debt ceiling.
Reform remains sticking point in shutdown, debt ceiling fight October 15, 2013 With less than two days before the country will reach its borrowing limit, Congress remained stalled on how to reopen the government and raise the nation's debt ceiling, with provisions of the healthcare reform law still a sticking point in the negotiations.
Md. submits plan to update all-payer health system October 12, 2013 Maryland has submitted a plan to the federal government to modernize the state's all-payer rate setting system for hospital services, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Friday.
Major challenges looming for health IT leaders October 11, 2013 Health information technology leaders have a lot on their plates today and more to come—implementing systems to match the federal IT incentive payment program upgrades, satisfying auditors roaming the land, meeting privacy constraints and preparing for the switch to a huge set of updated...
Finding their way home October 05, 2013 Many healthcare providers and payers are moving forward with patient-centered medical homes to improve primary care and care coordination and reduce costs, despite mixed research evidence of the cost-effectiveness of this major delivery system reform.
Healthcare's Hottest for 2013—40 of the healthcare industry's fastest-growing companies (text list) September 28, 2013 Modern Healthcare's second annual Healthcare's Hottest recognition program honors the fastest growing companies and organizations in the industry as measured by revenue growth. Forty companies were named to the 2013 list. On August 5, Modern Healthcare announced the names of the 40 companies in...
Insurers lower cost-sharing for preventive drugs October 12, 2013 Some major health insurers have reduced patient cost-sharing for preventive drugs out of a growing realization that lowering cost-sharing improves compliance and cuts the total cost of care.
St. Jude Medical acquires early-stage device company Nanostim October 14, 2013 St. Jude Medical paid about $123 million to acquire a developer of small, leadless cardiac pacemakers not yet approved in the U.S. The deal follows St. Jude's 2011 recall of leads for two of its pacemakers.
Mostashari shares concerns, 'insider clues' in first speech since leaving ONC October 10, 2013 Dr. Farzad Mostashari didn't quite bare his soul to a bunch of hospital CIOs, but the man who was indefatigably buoyant as the nation's federal health information technology czar did pull back the curtain a bit and offered an assessment of his own concerns as well as some "insider clues" in his...
Meet Obamacare's secret (traffic) weapon October 15, 2013 HealthCare.gov has, by all accounts, been an absolute train wreck of a website roll-out. But one thing the site hasn't lacked is traffic: It saw 4.7 million unique visitors in its first 24 hours online. And according to the web analytics firm SimilarWeb, which monitors network traffic, it has a...
Physician assistants fill in at the fringes of healthcare October 15, 2013 Physician assistants are helping to fill the many holes in the U.S. healthcare system, providing tests, counseling and other basic care when a doctor is unavailable. They expect to get busier as healthcare reform starts making it easier for people to pay for medical care.
Questionable design blamed for health website woes October 09, 2013 A decision by the Obama administration to require that consumers create online accounts before they can browse for insurance plans appears to have led to glitches that have frustrated customers.
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