Hospitals made little progress on hospital readmission rates between 2008 and 2010, and some regions have far more readmissions than the national average. Read More »
Modern detergents and new laundering technologies have prompted the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services to revise the laundry notes under F tag 411. Read More »
How much do you know about your GPO? CMS has instituted stricter disclosure rules pertaining to the financial relationships between providers and drug and device manufacturers. Read More »
Hundreds of provider sites are ready to test the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ four new models for restructuring the way episodes of care are paid for. Read More »
Although therapy billing has taken a lot of the heat lately in CMS’ hunt for fradulent billing practices, the next big target might be something more durable. Read More »
Another 106 provider organizations make the CMS list of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), bringing the number of covered beneficiaries to more than 4 million. Read More »
Congress is considering new legislation that would erase many of the barriers to telehealth adoption and create better incentives for providers. Read More »
No one’s sure what key bargaining chips will be in play at today’s 3 p.m. meeting between President Obama and congressional leaders, but raising the Medicare age isn’t going to be one of them, according to a key Democratic Senator. Read More »
Placing brain health among the current national health priorities--like diabetes and heart disease--can give cognitive health the attention and respect it needs to foster awareness and better prevention habits, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Health Brain Initiative. Read More »
A new report released today by the American Health Care Association shows historic shortfalls in what Medicaid pays and what skilled nursing care actually costs. Read More »
No more guessing: After months of drafting and reviewing, the Final Testing Method for electronic medical records (EMRs) has been published by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Fraud Prevention Program gets a decent grade in its Year One evaluation, but the inspectors also have a few suggestions. Read More »
The Department of Health & Human Services clarified its position Monday on funding ratios for state Medicaid expansions and published an extensive FAQ list on state health insurance exchanges. Read More »
Healthcare policy expert Blair Childs, vice president for public affairs at Premier healthcare alliance, gives his "insider impressions" of what’s happening on the Hill regarding a possible "doc-fix," Medicare funding, and possible Affordable Care Act policy changes as the deadline clock ticks down on the fiscal cliff. Read More »
Healthcare associations appeal to Congress to keep the therapy cap off the calendar for another year, as the clock ticks toward the December 31 Congressional deadline. Read More »
Speaker of the House John Boehner delivered a new proposal to solve the budget crisis this afternoon-- including billions in healthcare cuts. Read More »
There are plenty of potential holes in the Meaningful Use incentives programs for electronic health records—and too many temptations for cheating, says a new OIG report. Read More »
The release of today's proposed rules brings the Department of Health & Human Services a few steps closer in building the rules for state health exchanges (HIX). Read More »
Today was to be decision day for states on whether they intend to participate in the new state health exchange program, but an eleventh-hour extension from Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius gives the remaining eight states another few weeks to decide. Read More »
The Office of Inspector General continues to unearth massive misreporting and over-billing in nursing home claims, especially where therapy is involved. Read More »
Eileen Malo, CEO of Schervier Nursing Care Center in Riverdale, N.Y., shares her insights on continuing to provide efficient and compassionate care to the growing numbers of seniors whether they reside in an LTC facility or in the community. Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services has submitted another rulemaking piece on state health insurance exchanges to the Office of Management and Budget—the last step before publication. Read More »
Long-term care organizations are using an aggressive advertising campaign to tell Congress to end the deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. Read More »
Under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Meaningful Use incentive program for the use of electronic health records, eligible providers have received more than $8 billion in incentive payouts since the program began in early 2011, according to this week's report. Read More »
