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GHX OnDemand AP software-as-a-service solution helps hospitals reduce invoicing processing costs

A growing number of healthcare providers are using the OnDemand AP(SM) solution by GHX to automate and streamline their accounts payable processes, reducing invoice processing costs and cycle time, and improving internal controls and cash flow management. With OnDemand AP, hospitals can receive 100 percent of their invoices electronically, even from suppliers who do not currently support electronic invoicing. By eliminating the need for manual data entry and accelerating invoice approval, hospitals can reduce invoicing processing costs by more than 80 percent.

20 Aug 2009

Mullti-million dollar ad campaigns supporting health overhaul launched

Various advertising campaigns take to the airwaves. Among their messages are the moral imperative of reform and the importance of cooperation.

19 Aug 2009

New guidance for businesses to plan for and respond to upcoming flu season

Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gary Locke, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced new guidance for businesses to plan for and respond to the upcoming flu season.

19 Aug 2009

New study suggests financial situation of U.S. hospitals improving

The median profit margin of U.S. hospitals increased from 0.17 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, according to an analysis of hospital finances published today by Thomson Reuters.

19 Aug 2009

Looking to September, lawmakers focus on health reform messages, measures

House Republicans are preparing for September and planning to depict Democratic attempts to reform the health care system as "potentially ruinous to small businesses," CQ Politics reports.

19 Aug 2009

Confusion reigns about public option, health cooperatives

Reports that President Obama could accept a reform plan without a government-run public option have triggered a barrage of comments from administration officials and congressional leaders insisting that the public option remains on the table, as well as discussion of how health insurance cooperatives would work.

19 Aug 2009

API Healthcare offers new business analytics solution for enterprise workforce information analysis

API Healthcare, the leading provider of human capital management solutions to the healthcare industry, today announced the availability of its new Business Analytics solution, a software application that provides hospitals and health systems with a centralized source for analyzing workforce information across the enterprise.

19 Aug 2009

Asia's food and feed demand is expected to double by 2050 bringing shortages

A comprehensive new study of irrigation in Asia warns that, without major reforms and innovations in the way water is used for agriculture, many developing nations face the politically risky prospect of having to import more than a quarter of the rice, wheat and maize they will need by 2050.

17 Aug 2009

Transcript: "Health on The Hill" discussion of the public plan

Mary Agnes Carey: Hello and welcome to Health On The Hill. I’m Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News. Joining me today to discuss the latest in the health reform debate is Julie Rovner of National Public Radio. Thanks for being with us, Julie.

17 Aug 2009

Ratio of health lobbyists to lawmakers tops 6:1

"If there is any doubt that President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue," Bloomberg reports, noting that the number amounts to six lobbyists for each member of Congress.

16 Aug 2009

Grassley: No end-of-life counseling provision in Senate finance plan

Congress Daily reports that the Senate Finance Committee will not include in its version of health overhaul legislation House-backed provisions aimed at helping people plan for end-of-life care.

13 Aug 2009

Jobless, uninsured seek health care from COBRA and free clinics

Many people are going without health care in the current economy, but COBRA and free clinics can provide relief.

12 Aug 2009

Research looks at drop in delivery-related rate of death for infants born at term

During about the last 20 years, the risk of delivery-related death at birth or shortly thereafter for term infants has decreased nearly 40 percent in Scotland, with the largest contributing factor being a decrease in the number of deaths caused by a lack of oxygen for the baby during the childbirth process, according to a study in the August 12 issue of JAMA.

12 Aug 2009

comScore releases new study on online health insurance industry

comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), has released a study of the online health insurance industry, which showed the effects of increasing U.S. unemployment on online consumer activity. While the number of visitors to health insurance provider sites has seen substantial declines, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of searches related to obtaining health coverage during the past year.

11 Aug 2009

An analysis of key provisions in health care legislation released to-date

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today released a side-by-side comparison of chronic care provisions contained within health reform legislation passed out of committee.

11 Aug 2009

Drug industry to spend $150 million to support Obama in health overhaul efforts

According to Associated Press sources, "The nation's drugmakers stand ready to spend $150 million to help President Barack Obama overhaul health care this fall, according to numerous officials, a staggering sum that could dwarf attempts to derail his chief domestic priority ...

9 Aug 2009

Reform could strain community health centers

While the health care reform debate rages on Capitol Hill, sitting just a mile away is the Walker-Jones Health Center in Northeast Washington, one of about 1,200 federally-qualified community health centers across the country that provide free and reduced-cost care to millions of Americans.

7 Aug 2009

Senators move closer to centrist health reform bill

Lawmakers working on a bipartisan health care reform bill in the Senate Wednesday signed on some centrist Democrats who believe they could support the reform and sell it to constituents back home over the recess, The New York Times reports.

6 Aug 2009

Huge cost of scaling up entire health system in Sub-Saharan Africa

Hiring the nearly 800,000 workers needed to eliminate the staggering shortage of health care professionals in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015 will cost $2.6 billion a year, or 2.5 times the annual funds currently allocated for health worker wages in the region, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and collaborators from the World Health Organization (WHO) and The World Bank.

6 Aug 2009

Baucus/Grassley relationship challenged, other Senators weigh in on Rreform

The old reliable relationship between Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) continues to "bedevil" their Senate colleagues as the Finance Committee nears a deal on health care reform, Roll Call reports.

6 Aug 2009