Reimbursement

With states considering reductions in Medicaid spending to address mounting budget deficits, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has sent a letter to governors outlining ways they can save money on Medicaid expenditures.

Before embracing an accountable care organization model, academic medical centers need to assess the financial risk, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

The SCIOinspire Corp., a provider of analytics-driven business process solutions for health plans and hospitals, has acquired National Audit, a healthcare claims audit and payment integrity services provider to large commercial and Medicare and Medicaid payers and pharmacy benefit managers.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is developing an online toolkit and electronic user manual to help providers and health plans understand and establish the requirements for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule.

I've worn many professional hats in my career including that of a freelance writer and contract editor. If I were still plying the sole-proprietor waters and didn't have the health insurance I have now through my current employer, I'd want 2014 to hurry up and get here already.

A report from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United charges that health insurers in California denied 26 percent of all claims submitted through the first nine months of 2010.

Health information is one of the hottest topics online today, with 80 percent of Americans using the Internet to research areas including diseases, procedures, doctors, hospitals, drugs, test results and insurance, according to a new survey by the Pew Internet Project and California HealthCare Foundation.

Tenet Healthcare has reached an agreement with Medicaid managed care program Keystone Mercy Health Plan that covers Hahnemann University Hospital and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.

The spotlight is on health data exchange in Indiana as the Central Indiana Beacon Community, led by the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), hosts a meeting Monday to share the experiences of running the nation's largest and oldest health information exchange in the country. Indiana health IT leaders are calling the 'deep dive' meeting the first - and only - such meeting of the Beacon Communities.

MedeAnalytics, an Emeryville, Calif.-based provider of healthcare performance management solutions, has announced that Blue Shield of California is now live with the company's Medical Management Analytics solution.