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Thousands of patients, workers and families threatened by proposed cutbacks

Congress is considering a measure that would drastically reduce Medicare dollars available to states for skilled nursing care. Such a move would be especially devastating to the states like Illinois where the Medicaid rates are substantially less than the actual cost of providing care.

12 Oct 2009

Free web-based e-prescribing solution for Iowa physicians

Iowa's largest integrated health care system and the nation's largest provider of electronic prescribing software today announced the launch of an initiative to convert a majority of the state's physicians from paper prescriptions -- known to be the cause of costly medical errors -- to electronic prescribing.

12 Oct 2009

Benefits of health overhaul won't be immediate

Mechanisms to make health insurance more affordable for families and low- and middle-income households won't start until 2013 if health care reform passes.

12 Oct 2009

Today's selection of opeds: Cutting health costs

Many commentators have treated the Senate Finance bill as the likely template for any final legislation because it may be more palatable to conservative Democrats, and deficit hawks, in both houses.

12 Oct 2009

Insurers change course, attack health care reform, predict huge premium increases

Insurers who backed Democratic attempts to reform the health care system in America are now attacking the Senate Finance Committee bill, saying it would cause premiums to increase.

12 Oct 2009

Horizon BCBSNJ to use NaviNet’s Web-based portal for secure information exchange with providers

NaviNet, America’s largest real-time health care communications network, and New Jersey’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ), announced today an agreement in which Horizon BCBSNJ will use NaviNet’s multi-payer, Web-based portal as its exclusive secure information exchange with providers.

12 Oct 2009

Physician shortage worries rural communities but gets little attention in health bills

Garfield Memorial Hospital in Pomeroy, Wash., has been struggling to make ends meet for years - through patient revenues and property taxes that helped cover a $70,000 roof repair - the Seattle Times reports. Many rural hospitals face similar problems, and in the case of Pomeroy, if the hospital closed, residents would have to travel miles to find other choices.

12 Oct 2009

Navinet to outline ways in which healthcare providers can maximize reimbursement in a post-CDH world

NaviNet, America’s largest real-time healthcare communications network, announces that Timothy Mills, senior vice president, provider operations, will speak about how healthcare providers can maximize reimbursement in a post-CDH world, at the MGMA 2009 Annual Conference, held in Denver, Colorado from October 11-14, 2009.

12 Oct 2009

Amedisys to acquire the home health operations of Hackensack University Medical Center

Amedisys, Inc., one of America's leading home health and hospice nursing companies, today announced that it has completed the discussions disclosed in a press release dated September 10, 2009 and has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the home health operations of Hackensack University Medical Center.

12 Oct 2009

Press Ganey releases report on home care patient satisfaction

Home health care providers serve many chronically ill patients in the country, and a new report released today finds an upward trend in overall home care patient satisfaction. Press Ganey Associates, Inc., the leading provider of healthcare improvement solutions, has announced the results of the annual 2009 Home Care Pulse Report: Patient Perspectives on American Health Care.

12 Oct 2009

Federal stimulus funds for comparative-effectiveness research in cancer

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Group Health Research Institute and the University of Washington schools of Public Health and Pharmacy have been selected to lead four projects backed by approximately $16 million in federal stimulus funding for comparative-effectiveness research in cancer.

12 Oct 2009

Rural Americans with heart disease at risk of impending Medicare cuts

Medicare regulatory changes expected to be finalized in November - but overshadowed by the partisan bluster of the ongoing health care debate - pose an imminent threat to 80 million patients in America suffering from heart disease, especially for the nearly one in four Americans over the age of 65 living in rural areas.

12 Oct 2009

Detroit jury indicts alleged perpetrators of X-Press Center $2.3M Medicare fraud scheme

Three Miami-Dade County, Fla., residents have been indicted in connection with an alleged $2.3 million Medicare fraud scheme operated out of X-Press Center, a Detroit-area clinic that purported to specialize in providing injection and infusion therapies, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Terrence Berg and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced today.

12 Oct 2009

CCHIT certifies Eclipsys’ PeakPractice EMR/PM solution

Eclipsys Corporation®, The Outcomes Company®, today announced that the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) has listed its PeakPractice™ solution (version 1093) a CCHIT Certified® 08 Ambulatory electronic health record (EHR), and meets the Certification Commission’s EHR criteria for office-based use.

12 Oct 2009

Socioeconomic and geographic disparities in the use of breast-conservating therapy

According to a new study published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, although breast-conserving surgery (BCS), commonly known as lumpectomy, is increasingly being used to treat older women with nonmetastatic invasive breast cancer, there are still significant socioeconomic and geographic disparities in the use of this type of therapy.

12 Oct 2009

Concord Coalition sends list of suggestions concerning the healthcare reform bill

In the coming days, you have the unenviable task of combining the Senate Finance Committee's health care reform bill with the bill that emerged from the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Aware of the difficulty and the competing pressures you face, we have identified in the attached memorandum key areas where we believe the potential of the legislation to produce fiscal gains can be strengthened. We hope our views will help guide your work -- consistent with fiscal responsibility and sustainability.

12 Oct 2009

CBO: Medical malpractice reform would save $54 billion over 10 years

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that reforming some aspects of medical malpractice law would reduce the federal deficit by $54 billion over a decade.

12 Oct 2009

Critical moments ahead for health reform legislation

News outlets looked ahead as the President and Capitol Hill lawmakers prepare for Tuesday's vote in the Senate Finance Committee on health overhaul legislation.

12 Oct 2009

Dems get boost from another Republican supporting health reform

Former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Thomas Scully is the latest Republican to throw his support behind health care reform.

12 Oct 2009

Caring for Alzheimer's patients proves costly

Newsday reports that the high cost of caring for Alzheimer's patients "can easily deplete even the deepest bank account. Because the disease lasts so long - anywhere from two to 20 years, depending on the stage at diagnosis - and because the type of care needed often falls beyond the scope of government health care programs, families find themselves scrambling to find the money needed to maintain care for their loved one."

9 Oct 2009

Medicare News and Research

Thousands of patients, workers and families threatened by proposed cutbacks

Free web-based e-prescribing solution for Iowa physicians

Benefits of health overhaul won't be immediate

Today's selection of opeds: Cutting health costs

Insurers change course, attack health care reform, predict huge premium increases

Horizon BCBSNJ to use NaviNet’s Web-based portal for secure information exchange with providers

Physician shortage worries rural communities but gets little attention in health bills

Navinet to outline ways in which healthcare providers can maximize reimbursement in a post-CDH world

Amedisys to acquire the home health operations of Hackensack University Medical Center

Press Ganey releases report on home care patient satisfaction

Federal stimulus funds for comparative-effectiveness research in cancer

Rural Americans with heart disease at risk of impending Medicare cuts

Detroit jury indicts alleged perpetrators of X-Press Center $2.3M Medicare fraud scheme

CCHIT certifies Eclipsys’ PeakPractice EMR/PM solution

Socioeconomic and geographic disparities in the use of breast-conservating therapy

Concord Coalition sends list of suggestions concerning the healthcare reform bill

CBO: Medical malpractice reform would save $54 billion over 10 years

Critical moments ahead for health reform legislation

Dems get boost from another Republican supporting health reform

Caring for Alzheimer's patients proves costly

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