News

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has named a 15-member Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research to help coordinate research and guide investments in comparative effectiveness research funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Native American Health Service (IHS) has been allocated $500 million in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Kaiser Permanente is now the "Official Health Insurance Partner" of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Acting HHS Secretary Charles E. Johnson said Friday that the federal government will increase its 2009 allotment for "Disproportionate Share Hospitals" by an additional $268 million in 2009.

The Obama administration has dropped a proposal that would force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who suffered service-related disabilities and injuries.

Vice President Joe Biden has announced that the Department of Health and Human Services will award $100 million in Recovery Act funding to provide meals to tens of thousands of low-income older Americans.

Legislation was introduced Wednesday that would end insurance discrimination against those with pre-existing or chronic illnesses.

Abington Memorial Hospital is replacing 26 disparate systems from various vendors with a single end-to-end revenue management system from McKesson in an effort to streamline workflow and make processes more seamless and efficient.

The move toward consumer-based healthcare is spurring new interest in healthcare payment processing technology. The latest to benefit is InstaMed, which recently announced $6 million in equity financing to help the company grow.

The economic decline is continuing to pummel hospitals in the form of reduction of reimbursements, rise of uninsured patients and decrease in number of elective procedures for insured patients.