Medicare News and Research

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Health Endeavors releases ACO WebCenter 1.0 and Physician Alignment WebCenter 2.0

ACO WebCenter Version 1.0 is a web-based product developed to assist hospitals, IPAs and physicians with the implementation of a Medicare or Non-Medicare Accountable Care Organization. Physician Alignment WebCenter 2.0 is a web-based product utilized by hospitals to enhance physician alignment with medical staff members. The 2.0 version includes a communications portal and Meaningful Use/EMR Center.

20 May 2011

Reid seizes political opportunity, readies Senate vote on Ryan budget plan

Seizing on a political opportunity, the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, told USA TODAY on Wednesday that he will schedule a vote next week in an effort to tie Senate Republicans to a House GOP plan to dramatically revamp the popular Medicare health care program.

20 May 2011

Analysis of 'Gang of Six' tensions: What will the impact be on deficit-reduction and entitlement reform plans?

News outlets examine what led to the exit of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., from this group of negotiators and what the new outlook is for the group to have a positive impact on congressional efforts to develop long-term deficit reduction strategies.

20 May 2011

HealthGrades identifies major flaws in hospital ratings study

The findings of a journal article published in the May issue of the Archives of Surgery are fundamentally flawed and could undermine patients ability to find high quality hospital care, according to HealthGrades. The article, Evaluating Popular Media and Internet-Based Hospital Quality Ratings for Cancer Surgery, compared outcomes for gastrointestinal cancer patients who underwent surgery at hospitals on HealthGrades' "America's 50 Best Hospitals" and US News and World Report's "America's Best Hospitals" lists.

20 May 2011

Longer looks: Tough health care questions for GOP presidential contenders; Robotics help spike use of prostate treatment

For my money, the most interesting thing about Mitt Romney's health-care speech last week wasn't his struggle to defend Romneycare and distance it from Obamacare, but the largely hostile reception of the speech from the right.

20 May 2011

Viewpoints: Coburn on his dropout; Malpractice reform and states

For the past several months I have been meeting with a small group of senators from both parties, informally known as the Gang of Six, that was designed to force the idle — not gridlocked — Senate, and then the House and the president, to enact a long-term deficit-reduction package.

20 May 2011

First Edition: May 19, 2011

Today's headlines continue to analyze the impact of the departure of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., from the 'Gang of Six' on the efforts to address long-term budget issues such as Medicare spending.

19 May 2011

Latest development in Gingrich-Ryan Medicare dust-up: An apology

Newt Gingrich's presidential candidacy is only days old, and more than a decade after he last campaigned for public office, he's clearly shaking off some rust. On Tuesday, the former House speaker stepped up outreach to conservatives in an attempt to backtrack from comments he made Sunday calling Rep. Paul Ryan's proposed changes to Medicare "right-wing social engineering," as Democrats sought to use his remarks to attack the GOP.

19 May 2011

'Gang of six' budget talks hit wall as Sen. Coburn withdraws

The already weak prospects for a bipartisan debt-reduction deal this year dimmed further on Tuesday when a Republican member of the Senate's "Gang of Six," Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, withdrew after months of private negotiations amid differences over changes to Medicare.

19 May 2011

Health law faces legal challenges and political battles

Senate Republicans target the law's Independent Payment Advisory Board and issue a top-10 list of its biggest problems. Meanwhile, CQ HealthBeat reports on the merits of the "imminent injury" argument that is in play in at least one legal challenge to the law.

19 May 2011

HHS offers new initiatives to add momentum to ACOs

The Obama administration on Tuesday announced three new initiatives to encourage physicians and hospitals to better coordinate care after a key regulation came under intense criticism over the past week.

19 May 2011

Study: 10% of cancer patients fail to fill initial oral oncolytic prescriptions

Ten percent of cancer patients failed to fill their initial prescriptions for oral anti-cancer drugs, according to a new study published jointly today in the Journal of Oncology Practice and American Journal of Managed Care.

19 May 2011

XTRAC Excimer Laser treatment offers new hope for patients with psoriasis

With XTRAC® Excimer Laser treatments, psoriasis patients can say goodbye to the red, dry patches of scaly, thickened skin they have been covering up all winter. Developed by PhotoMedex, Inc., an innovator of medical devices, the XTRAC laser offers new hope to the 7.5 million Americans suffering from this embarrassing and socially isolating disease.

19 May 2011

On Op-Ed pages, controversies abound: Romney, Gingrich, abortion, telemedicine, cancer funding cuts

Gingrich was taking basically the same position on Medicare he took 16 years ago, when, as speaker of the House, he was the commanding general of the Republican Revolution. ... Compared to today's Republican agenda, the Revolution of '94 now appears to be a halcyon period of moderation and good sense. Then, there was a hope that government-run Medicare would "wither on the vine" when recipients were offered alternatives.

19 May 2011

Inspector General: Push for EMRs overlooks security issues

The Office of the Inspector General found "a lack of general [information technology] security controls during prior audits at Medicare contractors, State Medicaid agencies, and hospitals."

19 May 2011

First Edition: May 18, 2011

Today's news highlights include reports about the latest developments regarding the budget talks and the Senate's "Gang of Six," the continuing political hijinx surrounding Medicare issues, and the Obama administration's plan to offer a new path for accountable care organizations.

18 May 2011

Centene prices public offering of $250 million senior notes

Centene Corporationtoday announced that on May 17, 2011 it priced $250 million aggregate principal amount of its senior notes in a public offering made pursuant to a registration statement and a related preliminary prospectus supplement filed by Centene with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

18 May 2011