News

The topic of why it costs more to treat patients in some areas of the country than in others has caused feuds among researchers. Given the decades-long argument, a new IOM report is likely to only add fuel to the fire.

As healthcare delivery and reimbursement models transition to ensuring quality care versus quantity of care, some sectors of the healthcare industry will benefit more than others.

As Medicaid enrollment continues to grow, the financial sustainability of the risk-based managed care model is being tested.

WellPoint Inc., the second largest health insurer, posted better-than-expected second quarter earnings Wednesday by taming medical cost increases in its employer-based business and benefiting from the Medicaid operations in its recent Amerigroup transaction.

Despite the regular news that the healthcare industry is adding jobs, the pressures of mergers and acquisitions, declining reimbursements and the fears over national healthcare reform have led to several recent announcements of layoffs, which is putting a greater focus on outplacement services for healthcare workers – a service not traditionally used by doctors, nurses and senior staff.

Some of the most challenging aspects for payers to prepare for operating on the exchanges have to with the basics, such as products, rates and service models.

Balancing the myriad concerns of a hospital’s workforce is no easy task. Challenges aside, however, it’s a balance worth achieving not only for quality patient care and staff happiness, but because a well-managed workforce is critical to survival in a time of rapid change in U.S. healthcare.

Supply chain managers are under increased pressure to reduce the cost of operational, medical and surgical supplies at their facilities, making successful negotiating a necessity.

Now that the healthcare industry has an extra year to implement ICD-10, providers should take advantage of that time to properly prepare for implementation in Oct. 2014, coding professionals say.

The Physician Payments Sunshine provisions of the Affordable Care Act require all U.S. drug and medical device manufacturers covered under Medicare, Medicaid or SCHIP to disclose payments to physicians and teaching hospitals. T