Reimbursement

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.

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.

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.

A federal judge ruled last week to block California's plan to cut Medicaid payments to hospitals by 10 percent.

Contrary to federal law, CMS accepted $15.1 million in gross drug costs for prescriptions written by excluded providers from 2006 to 2008 under the Medicare Part D program, according to a recent report from the Office of Inspector General.

I hate making predictions. Especially when they're about the future. But since I listed the top stories of 2011 and how they affected ICD-10 implementation, I need to explain their implications in 2012.

In the past decade, most states have turned Medicaid over to private plans with hopes they could control costs and improve care. Nearly half of the 60 million people in the government program for the poor are now in the managed care plans run by insurance giants such as UnitedHealthcare and Aetna.

Up to 10,000 Medicare patients with chronic conditions will be able to get most of the care they need at home under a new demonstration project developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The pilot is underpinned by the use of information technology.

On Jan. 5, CMS will host a teleconference for physician-based and rural accountable care organizations (ACOs) planning on applying to participate in the Shared Savings Program.