News

The president and CEO of a Minnesota health system embroiled in a billing controversy is retiring in July. The board of directors of Fairview Health Services decided during a special meeting on May 23 not to renew Mark Eustis' five-year contract, which expires July 31, 2012.

The stakes are high for the upcoming ICD-10 conversion and the consequences for organizations that don't properly prepare may be severe.

Driven by an increased incidence of respiratory disease and an aging population, the respiratory device market reached $44.2 billion in 2011, according to a new report from healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information.

Last week, two U.S. Congressmen from Texas -- Rep. Michael Burgess (R) and Gene Green (D) -- introduced American Hospital Association (AHA)-supported legislation aimed at making healthcare more affordable by promoting healthcare price transparency.

As the federal government continues to push for home care services to keep patients out of more costly care settings, a new analysis estimates that the country's direct-care workers providing hands-on long-term care will outnumber healthcare facility workers by more than two-to-one. This boom in the direct-care workforce will mean the industry will face changes.

A broad survey of organizations within the healthcare industry show that pay increase budgets -- the money allocated primarily for pay raises of existing employees -- rose a modest 2.5 for 2012, according to Compensation Data Healthcare from Compdata Surveys.

As the ICD-10 debate blazes on, fueled by the one-year delay recently announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it helps to put the initiative in perspective, finds an industry veteran.

First announced May 2, the $156 million acquisition is aimed toward emerging accountable care organizations (ACOs) and will see Omnicell and MTS working to integrate medication management across the broader spectrum of care.

During testimony last week at the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Irving, Texas-based VHA Inc., said that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Schedule H amendment, which regulates reporting for tax-exempt organizations, has overly burdensome requirements for non-profit hospitals.

All aspects of social media were addressed during the Connecting Healthcare + Social Media conference last week in New York, with one of the most pressing issues being how to see financial return from your social media efforts. Chris Boyer, director of digital marketing and communications at Inova, outlined five keys to get a solid ROI from your social media.