Policy and Legislation
The Department of Justice recently announced that it secured a record $4.9 billion in settlements and judgments in civil fraud cases in FY 2012, including health care fraud recoveries totaling more than $3 billion.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) announced it was granting $40.7 million over three years to fund patient-centered comparative effectiveness research in the first four areas of its National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda.
Many safety-net hospitals that treat a higher number of lower-income patients than other hospitals are worried that the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) will have a disproportionate impact on their reimbursements due to their traditionally higher readmission rates. A new Commonwealth Fund analysis confirms those fears.
The Alliance of Specialty Medicine joined a number of other medical organizations as it called on Congress to permanently fix the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) Medicare payment formula as part of any legislation designed to avert the fiscal cliff.
A new tool created by ProPublica supports what nursing home auditors and researchers have been saying for years: federal fines vary widely by state. Nursing homes in some states pay a steep price for misconduct while those in neighboring states don't.
A patient-centered care model and the capacity to deliver primary care are more essential for starting an ACO than financial strength, according to a recent study from the Commonwealth Fund.
A data security industry insider discusses breaches and how to survive one without paying a big fine. One of the most important ideas that he advocates is the need for transparency.
President Barack Obama rejected the idea of delaying the implementation of a 2.3 percent medical device tax slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013 as part of the Affordable Care Act. The president said medical device companies would make up for the lost revenue because the ACA will bring more healthcare consumers into the marketplace.
This year’s IHI Forum provided an opportunity to think deeply about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in healthcare. Key themes included implications of the Affordable Care Act, including the need to meet capacity and deliver quality care for an ever-growing patient population as well as the need to cut through all the noise in healthcare and focus on the right areas that will facilitate positive changes to our inundated healthcare system.
Eleven Republican governors sent a letter to President Barack Obama Thursday requesting a meeting to discuss the details and costs associated with Medicaid expansion as outlined in the Affordable Care Act.