Reimbursement
Amid problems ranging from the minor to the extreme, at least half a dozen state exchanges are offering enrollment extensions of sorts, but only one is pushing federal limits and trying to extend open enrollment.
Grab a photograph. Any photo. Then take it to a photocopier, and copy it.
It isn't news for anyone to suggest the most expensive hospitals may not be worth the money. But the recent hullabaloo over both narrow networks and hospital quality may be missing the forest for the trees.
A central hypothesis underlying the case for health reform's insurance expansion is being challenged by new evidence, as the quest to reduce emergency visits and spending continues. The research also highlights ongoing concerns about primary care access.
An unusual 90-day grace period for government-subsidized health plans may leave physicians at risk for not getting paid for their services.
The largest national dual eligible demonstration project is taking a belated start in California, amid concerns from patient advocates. The concern surrounding the project indicates that new managed care plans have a long way to go, both in fixing problems in the system and getting buy-in from beneficiaries.
As Congress tries to reform Medicare, the program's independent advisor has its own suggestions, including a call to end to what has become a revenue buffer for many hospitals and an integral part of their physician acquisition strategies.
As Oregon transforms how it delivers care to 780,000 Medicaid patients, it hopes to generate better outcomes at lower costs. The problem is these goals conflict with hospital's traditional reliance on revenue from ER visits and inpatient stays.
Federal regulators are starting to finalize simmering ideas for public exchanges and also responding to consumer concerns, outlining a new quality rating system and proposals covering everything from narrow networks to loss ratios.
Demand for endoscopic video systems is expected to grow as new techniques enable even more procedures to be performed in a minimally invasive manner. This will make the question for today’s hospital not if to purchase a system, but how many to purchase.