During the current congressional recess, President Barack Obama appointed Donald Berwick, MD, current president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, to fill the role of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator.
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.
In a Wednesday visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, Md., President Barack Obama announced $5 billion in grant awards under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to fund medical research in every state.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be handing out individual grants for up to $3 million to states and health systems to implement and evaluate models and methods to improve patient safety and reduce medical liability.
The Physician Hospitals of America (PHA), which represents physician-owned hospitals, has rejected the American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals and Catholic Health Association's agreement with the White House last week to reduce Medicare hospital spending by $155 billion, indicating it could destroy "physician-owned hospitals as a quid pro quo for the Medicare cost savings."
President Barack Obama is planning to nominate Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the Department of Health and Human Services.
A collection of hospital industry groups, accompanied by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a White House press conference on Wednesday, agreed to accept $155 billion less in reimbursements from the federal government in an attempt to ensure that healthcare reform will be deficit-neutral.
A new policy statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) advocates that healthcare facilities use high-quality video conferencing systems to connect expert neurologists for rapid, remote examination and treatment of patients undergoing suspected strokes. Commentary, published in the July 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, notes that reimbursement obstacles and the necessity of establishing "stroke systems of care" for effective assessment and treatment remain.
President Barack Obama Sunday released plans to cut in half the prescription drug expenses of Medicare Part D beneficiaries who have reached the coverage gap (doughnut hole) in their prescription benefit. Simultaneously, pharmaceutical companies have agreed to foot the bill for $80 billion in Medicare drugs over the next decade for this population.
Both houses of Congress have reached a compromise in support of President Barack Obama's Economic Reinvestment and Recovery Act that, among other initiatives totaling $787 billion, is expected to have a net impact of $19 billion for healthcare on the federal budget over the next 10 years.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Wednesday released a detailed report outlining specific priorities and recommendations for the Obama administration and 111th Congress to harness IT’s power to reform healthcare and stimulate the U.S. economy.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
