Medicare
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Commentary: Better Communication For Improved Outcomes, Reduced Readmissions
Despite having one of the most technically advanced healthcare systems in the world, the United States continues to struggle with the most basic of tasks — efficient communication and care coordination amongst different providers. Read More »
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Commentary: Concerns About Quality Improvement Organizations Actions Around Meaningful Use
The federal government is pressuring the medical community to reduce patient care costs while improving the quality of patient care to all patients, including Medicare beneficiaries. Read More »
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Commentary: Will Health IT Increase Fraud And Abuse?
A September 15 article in the Washington Post examines an area of increasing focus in healthcare -- fraudulent and abusive Medicare billing practices. Read More »
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Cone Health CEO: We're Reinventing In Face Of Challenges
Through initiatives such as the Triad Healthcare Network and technological investments like the $120 million EPIC electronic health records system, Cone Health is reinventing itself for an evolving health care landscape, Cone's CEO Tim Rice told the Triad Association of Health Underwriters Tuesday. Read More »
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Cone Remains 'Confident' In The Future Despite S&P Report
It’s been a tough year for Cone Health. The health care provider spent $90 million implementing an electrical medical records software system called Epic. It eliminated hundreds of jobs. It had to deal with Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement at the state and national level. Read More »
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Conflicts of Interests Among the RUC's Members
Since 2007, we have been writing about the secretive RUC (RBRVS Update Committee), the private AMA committee that somehow has managed to get effective control over how Medicare pays physicians. The RUC has been accused of setting up incentives that strongly favor invasive, high technology procedures while disfavoring primary care and other “cognitive medicine.”
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Congressman Offers 3-Point MU Fix
With $23 billion already spent on incentivizing providers to adopt electronic health records, many in government and industry are wondering whether taxpayers and patients got what they paid for...
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Consumers Are Still Held Back From Making Rational Health Decisions
Price and quality of care–those are what we’d like to know when we need a medical procedure. But a perusal of a recent report from the Government Accountability Office reminded me that both price and quality information are hard to get nowadays...
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Contest Produces Consumer Friendly Health Records
Competition focused on improving look of downloaded health records, and Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT hopes EHR vendors will participate in followup project. Read More »
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Could ICD-10 have as big a financial impact as the mortgage crisis? Yes. Here's why.
U.S. National Healthcare Expenditures (NHE) are $2.7 trillion in 20111 and are forecasted to grow 34% in five years. This multi-trillion dollar economy will shift its reimbursement paradigm to ICD-102 in under 24 months. ICD-10 will introduce opportunities and risks to hospitals and health plans that may be equivalent to the $148.2 billion to $500 billion in losses3 to the U.S. Read More »
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Could There Be a Blockchain Solution to High Prescription Drug Prices?
Prescription drugs are one of the biggest contributors to soaring healthcare costs in the U.S. And for both individuals and families, particularly where multiple prescriptions are needed, drug expenses can quickly escalate to thousands of dollars. According to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 8 in 10 Americans would like the government to negotiate prices for those on Medicare. Additionally, Americans want limits set on the amount drug companies can charge for high-cost drugs, such as those to treat cancer...
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Creating a New IT Culture in Health Care
The pressures on our health system are real and continue to build, threatening the sustainability of our health-care system. For example, rates of chronic disease continue to increase, and access and quality challenges continue to be a reality in many parts of the country. Read More »
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Cutting More But Not Saving More
There's an epidemic in American health care, and I don't mean the commonly lamented ones like obesity, diabetes, or even Ebola. It's surgery...
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Defense Companies Target Health Care
Traditional defense contractors are increasingly muscling into the health care services field, hoping that the burgeoning area can help them weather reductions in Pentagon equipment buying. Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin and Falls Church-based General Dynamics, both of which already had health care practices in place, have ramped up their businesses in recent weeks with new acquisitions. Read More »
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Destructive Doctor Relationships Will Destroy Hospitals' Success
The highest-performing healthcare organizations fundamentally understand the importance of the forgotten aim in the Quadruple Aim (caring for the caregivers). It’s common sense. My observation turned my inbox into a virtual confessional once I started focusing on the quadruple aim. The bad behavior of far too many hospital CEOs has created collateral damage for the economy and doctors. The only surprise is how most hospital CEOs aren’t recognizing how their actions are self-destructive.
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