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A Government Accountability Office report issued late last week examining Medicare EHR incentive payments found only 16 percent of eligible hospitals and 9 percent of professionals received payments under the program in 2011.
The impending demise of solo physician practice has been predicted for several years now. In early July, recruitment firm Merritt Hawkins put the proverbial nail in the coffin of solo physician practice by declaring it officially dead. But like the old man in 1975's "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" protesting "I'm not dead!", doctors aren't ready to be hauled off for burial.
According to a recent report published in the August issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) doubled at academic medical centers nationwide in five years.
If mobile medical apps are going to stand any chance of survival -- with physicians as well as consumers -- they'll have to be able to integrate with other devices and healthcare platforms, with electronic medical records and personal health records.
A new accountable care health plan from Aetna offered in conjunction with Aurora Health Care will offer a price guarantee to employers, many of whom may see an average reduction of 10 percent based on their past claims expenses.
The burgeoning mHealth field offers healthcare a wealth of opportunities to engage with patients and provide a satisfactory return on investment. But if mobile medical apps are going to stand any chance of survival -- with physicians as well as consumers -- they'll have to be able to integrate.
David Blumenthal, MD, a widely respected healthcare scholar, has been appointed president of the Commonwealth Fund. He will succeed Karen Davis, effective Jan. 1, 2013.
When it comes to patient experience, U.S. safety-net hospitals -- those serving a disproportionately larger number of low-income and Medicaid patients -- are getting poor performance reviews, which may indicate they will struggle under value-based purchasing models.
The Obama Administration has launched what it calls a "ground-breaking partnership" among the federal government, state officials, leading private health insurance organizations, and other healthcare anti-fraud groups to prevent healthcare fraud.
Officials at Milwaukee, Wis.-based Aurora Health Care announced on Thursday they are forming an accountable care collaboration with Aetna, Inc., an effort aimed to provide employers with a new health plan created to improve employee health outcomes while controlling costs.