Reimbursement
The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it will begin using Medicare's standard payment rates for certain medical procedures performed by non-VA providers on Feb. 16, 2011.
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced new requirements for State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP) grants.
"Check Back in a Generation to See if the Health Law Withstands Challenge" suggests the New York Times in an insightful piece, which suggests Social Security as a useful comparison.
New data from the Standard & Poor's Healthcare Economic Composite Index indicates that the average per capita cost of healthcare services rose 6.70 percent over the 12 months ending October 2010, a deceleration from the 7.08 percent reported for the 12 months ending in September.
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) announced on Tuesday three new appointees to its board of trustees. The Commission also named William F. Jessee, MD, president and chief executive officer of the Medical Group Management Association as the new chairman of the board.
A Virginia federal district judge ruled Monday that a provision of the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, marking a victory for those who oppose the law.
Physicians' groups are calling on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to pay "long-overdue" 2010 Medicare reimbursements.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does a great deal to address insurance industry practices. The new health care reform law, however, has been rightly criticized as failing to directly and forcefully attack rising medical costs, the primary driver of insurance premiums.
The University of Michigan Health System reports that a four-year Medicare physician group demonstration project, similar to an accountable care organization, has saved more than $15 million in the cost of care.
A new survey indicates it will cost physician practices roughly $120,000 per doctor to implement electronic health records - and that the speed in which a practice fully implements its EHR and shifts to the new workflow is critical to reducing the overall cost of adoption.