Organization

Obama Administration


White House issues nearly $800M for broadband, telemed projects

Top Stories | Tuesday, July 06 2010
The Obama Administration released new government investments July 2 for 66 broadband deployment projects, worth $795 million, to expand access to broadband connections and telemedicine in rural and underserved regions.
 

AGs power through DoJ's motion to dismiss reform lawsuit

Top Stories | Monday, June 21 2010
The federal government's lawsuit over the new healthcare reform bill evolved into a war of words last week when the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed its motion to dismiss the constitutional challenges against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act brought by 20 states, the National Federation of Independent Business and individuals affected by the mandate to adopt healthcare insurance.
 

HIMSS: Road to healthcare reform paved by health IT

Conference News | Friday, June 11 2010
Lately, healthcare reform and health IT has been a “high-priority legislative issue,” and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) believes that healthcare reform can be enabled by leveraging health IT, explained David W. Roberts, MPA, vice president of HIMSS Government Relations, during a legislative update session of the HIMSS virtual conference on June 9.
 

Obama Administration attempts to dismiss Virginia's reform suit

Top Stories | Wednesday, May 26 2010
Federal attorneys, acting on behalf of Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, filed a 39-page brief in the U.S. District Court of Richmond in Virginia this week, in an attempt to dismiss Virginia’s lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s healthcare reform law.
 

HealthAffairs: With one year down, ARRA has a lot on the line

Industry News | Monday, April 05 2010
Now that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is one year old, it’s time to ask if the federal government has gotten IT right, according to an editorial in the April issue of HealthAffairs.
 

FDA seeks comments on transparency initiative

Industry News | Wednesday, March 31 2010
As part of the final phase of its transparency initiative, the FDA is seeking comment from the public and other interested stakeholders on how the agency can increase transparency in its interactions with regulated industry.
 

Webinar: Are organizations up to speed with 2010 HIPAA policies?

Web Exclusives | Thursday, January 14 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
Organizations should act prior to the implementation of the new (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) HIPAA compliance guideline changes for 2010 and consistently monitor their facilities in order to make an easier transition and avoid the extended penalties that are now being proposed, said HIPAA privacy and security consult Grant Peterson during a Jan. 13 Webinar on the guidelines.
 

MediConnect acquires PHR provider PassportMD

Monday, January 11 2010
Medical records provider MediConnect Global acquired health IT company PassportMD. The transaction cost for the personal health record (PHR) provider was undisclosed.
 

PwC: Healthcare in 2010 will focus on cost control, delivery models

Top Stories | Monday, December 21 2009
PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Health Research Institute's Top 10 health industry issues in 2010 puts healthcare cost control at the head of the list as the overarching theme for the year ahead.
 

HHS revises Medicare fee-for-service error rates

Industry News | Thursday, November 19 2009
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have significantly revised their calculations of Medicare fee-for-service error rates in 2009.
 

Vangent releases HIE software tool

New Products | Wednesday, October 28 2009
Vangent is releasing an open-source software tool, known as Health Information Exchange Open Source, for the secure exchange of health information from multiple and disparate system and data sources.
 

Report: Telemedicine spending to approach $3.6B annually by 2014

Industry News | Sunday, October 11 2009
The market for telemedicine devices and services will generate nearly $3.6 billion in annual revenue within the next five years, with mobile services companies taking a sizeable chunk of that business, according to a report from market research firm Pike & Fischer.
 

Report: More data hurdles to overcome before wider EHR adoption

Industry News | Monday, October 05 2009
A defined framework for secondary data will need to be developed in order for more organizations to deploy health IT systems, according to a survey conducted between May and June and published by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
 

Industry lobbying for med device tax change

Top Stories | Monday, October 05 2009
Tax
The medical devices industry is lobbying heavily to reduce a projected $4 billion annual tax on medical device makers included in the Senate Finance Committee healthcare reform bill, according to media reports.
 

N.Y. provider invests $400M for EHR initiative

Top Stories | Monday, September 28 2009
The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System is subsidizing up to 85 percent of implementation and operation costs for an EHR system in the offices of its more than 7,000 affiliated physicians in New York City and Long Island—part of a $400 million investment to automate inpatient and outpatient records in all medical settings, including 13 hospitals.
 

FDA medical device chief Schultz resigns

Industry News | Wednesday, August 12 2009
Daniel G. Schultz, MD, announced his resignation Tuesday as director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, a position that he has held since 2004. 
 

U.S. should look to Europe for e-health guidance

Top Stories | Tuesday, August 04 2009
A recently-published report on EHR and health information exchange initiatives suggests that the United States should look at similar efforts in Europe as a guide for its development of large-scale e-health systems.
 

House panel curbs comparative-effectiveness research

Top Stories | Monday, August 03 2009
The healthcare reform bill approved last week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee contained an amendment prohibiting the federal government from using comparative-effectiveness research to “deny or ration care.”
 

CMS proposes 21.5% physician pay cut; ACC fights back

Top Stories | Tuesday, July 07 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a 21.5 percent rate reduction for the 2010 calendar year to more than one million physicians and non-physician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
 

ACR members urge Congress against RBMs, utilization rate change

Industry News | Thursday, June 25 2009
Members of the American College of Radiology (ACR) urged the U.S. House of Representatives Rural Caucus against using radiology benefits managers (RBMs) in the Medicare system and against a proposed imaging equipment utilization rate change from 50 to 95 percent at a Capitol Hill briefing held June 24.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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