Author: trident50
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Researchers offer guidance on clinical use of genomic tests
With around 10,000 tests using genome-based technology expected to be ordered this year, an article published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine provides guidance on using the technology effectively in clinical practice. read more …read more
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Make the Most of the RACs Summer Recess: Three Areas to Assess, Improve and Level-Up
The following is a guest blog post by Dawn Crump, VP of Audit Management Solutions at HealthPort. 2014 brings the first significant break in RAC activity for healthcare providers. Hospitals have been taking advantage of the RAC break to assess current programs, review historical data and centralize their audit management processes. Steps taken now to…
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3 ways to better protect healthcare data in the cloud
It’s really not surprising that 83 percent of healthcare organizations are using the cloud to store electronic health record information or other data, as reported this week by HIMSS Analytics. As their new survey points out, hospitals and other providers using cloud EHR vendors have lower maintenance costs, faster deployment and fewer internal IT staffing…
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Viewpoints: Working for benefits; fears for a pill to prevent HIV; possible Medicaid strategy for Virginia
[Economist Robert] Moffitt noted in an email that “the work incentives in the government safety net have greatly increased over the last 20 years: less welfare payments if you don’t work, and much greater government payments if you do.” …read more
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State highlights: Illinois Medicaid digital shift delayed; N.C. hospitals fight cuts; heroin in New England
Alexian Brothers Health System is suspending its effort to launch a new Medicaid program, blaming the difficulty of connecting physicians using different electronic records systems. The Arlington Heights, Ill.-based health system was spearheading a so-called accountable care entity (ACE) to coordinate the care of about 46,000 patients on Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for…
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Feds join whistleblower suit against doctors’ company
The Justice Department says in a lawsuit that IPC The Hospitalist Co., which assigns doctors to hospitals in 28 states, bilked Medicare and Medicaid by billing for more expensive care than was provided. …read more
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Medicare faces cost tension with lawmakers, advocates
More than 130 lawmakers are urging the Obama administration to expand coverage for a lung-cancer test under Medicare that could cost the program billons, calling the screening important for vulnerable seniors. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the lawmakers called for a timely decision on coverage for low-dose CT scans…
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Expanding coverage to under-26-year-olds made them healthier, saved money
Researchers found that one of the keystone provisions of the health law had a significant impact. Expanding the number of young adults with health insurance appears to have improved their health and saved them money, … …read more
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Morning Headlines 6/19/14
Launching Aledade Former National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD, announces today that he is launching a new startup dedicated to helping primary care physicians form ACOs. The new venture is backed with a $4.5 million seed investment from Venrock. What should Congress do to help medical innovation? The House Energy and Commerce Committee…
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Focus On the Big Picture Going Forward, ONC’s Reider Urges AMDIS Attendees
ONC’s chief medical officer tells CMIOs to look forward to the future of learning organizations in healthcare Speaking to an audience of about 240 CMIOs and other medical informaticists, Jacob Reider, M.D., chief medical officer in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), urged his audience on June 18 to focus…