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The Republican presidential candidates avoided talking about healthcare issues in any detail in Iowa because it did not register as a high-impact issue for voters. So no one wanted to put themselves out front architecting their view of solutions, engaging in discussion about it or even visiting healthcare facilities, said Matt Eide, managing partner at Eide & Heisinger in Des Moines, Iowa.
Iowa is poised to build a health information exchange (HIE) that will make it possible for even small rural medical practices to share patient information. Officials expect it will be fully operational by year's end.
Recently, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took a look back and recounted some of the department's biggest accomplishments in 2011. From discounting brand name prescriptions for seniors to helping prevent the nearly 2 million heart attacks and strokes every year, the HHS' efforts resulted not only in a healthier America but significant cost savings across the industry.
The Health and Human Services Department has finalized its initial core set of health quality measures for adults eligible for Medicaid for voluntary use by states.
Less than one week after an audit report from accounting firm KPMG voiced its serious doubts about its long term viability, West Penn Allegheny Health System announced regional health insurer Highmark will invest $20 million in the first phase of its redevelopment of Forbes Regional Hospital.
In its roundup of top predictions for IT organizations and users, Gartner, Inc. has forecasted new and innovative uses of technology from healthcare payers, integrated delivery systems, government and consumers.
Mitt Romney won in Iowa Tuesday by a slim margin of eight votes over Rick Santorum and a few percentage points over Ron Paul. Although healthcare was not a major topic of debate for GOP candidates, it's a matter of great importance to Iowans.
A federal judge ruled last week to block California's plan to cut Medicaid payments to hospitals by 10 percent.
The United States Justice Department has joined a whistleblower case alleging that a national chain of for-profit hospices violated the False Claims Act by spending millions of taxpayer dollars to care for Medicare recipients in hospice who were not terminally ill.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance announced today an agreement with Dallas-based population health management company Phytel, under which physician practices using the Phytels's care management technologies can automatically meet certain NCQA requirements for recognition as a patient-centered medical home.