Reimbursement

HP Enterprise Services and Blue Shield of California have signed a five-year contract under which HP will provide technology infrastructure and applications support to the not-for-profit health plan, which has 3.3 million members.

The Healthcare IT sector raised almost half a billion in venture capital last year, according to Mercom Capital Group, a global communications and consulting firm.

Should we just hand uninsured adult diabetics $1000 per year rather than enrolling them in Medicaid? That's the question I'm left with after reading Medicaid Expansion Under Health Reform May Increase Service Use and Improve Access for Low-Income Adults With Diabetes in this month's diabetes focused issue of Health Affairs.

Hawaii Island Beacon Community has awarded a $680,000 contract to North Hawaii Community Hospital (NHCH) to implement a health information exchange throughout the North Hawaii region. Implementation has begun and will continue through 2012.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended Thursday that Congress reduce Medicare payment rates for nonemergent hospital visits to be the same as payments made for equivalent services delivered at doctor's offices.

 The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has announced the first six provider-based accountable care organizations (ACOs) to seek accreditation from the ACO Accreditation program NCQA launched in November.

Humedica, a clinical analytics company, has introduced a new predictive analytic model to identify patients at high-risk for a congestive heart failure (CHF) hospitalization. Humedica executives say it can help reduce hospital admissions among the sickest, most costly patients in the country.

Just a week after its purchase of Medical Data Express, the TriZetto Group announced Thursday it would acquire Kocsis Consulting Group (KCG), a Michigan-based firm that provides software training, compliance and change management solutions for payers.

Career Quest Learning Centers, in Lansing, Mich., has introduced a new Health Information Technology program to meet employer demands for new workers to handle federally mandated electronic health records. Classes begin Feb. 1 at Michigan campuses in Lansing, Jackson and Kalamazoo.

The U.S. government has filed suit seeking $150 million in damages and penalties under the False Claims Act against Universal Imaging, Inc. and its current and former owners, Phillip J. Young and Mark Lauhoff, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade announced late last week.