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Premier Purchasing Partners awards new agreements for blood bank analyzers

Premier Purchasing Partners, LP, today announced new agreements for blood bank analyzers, reagents, consumables and service have been awarded to Biotest Diagnostics Corporation of Rockaway, N.J.; and Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. of Piscataway, N.J., contracting on behalf of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. of Raritan, N.J.

13 Oct 2009

Kidney Care Partners commends CBC for supporting reforms to improve access to quality kidney care

Kidney Care Partners - an alliance of patient advocates, dialysis professionals, care providers and manufacturers working together to improve quality of care for individuals with kidney disease and kidney failure - today applauded the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for supporting reforms that will improve patient access and choice in receiving quality kidney care.

13 Oct 2009

New OASIS-C products to meet extensive regulatory changes mandated by CMS

Briggs, a leading provider of solutions to improve clinical outcomes and reduce operating costs in the home care market, today announced new OASIS-C products to meet extensive regulatory changes mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

13 Oct 2009

President Obama to sign a healthcare reform package, according to members of Congress

At a healthcare forum hosted by Politics magazine, current and former members of Congress said they believed President Obama would sign some sort of a healthcare reform package, most likely later this year. "There would be too much political damage done if something doesn't pass, so Congress will find a way," said Congressman Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX).

13 Oct 2009

Webinar to discuss the issues surrounding disease management programs

At a time when healthcare is at the top of the national agenda, two issues have emerged as most critical to reform: reducing costs and improving care. Managing chronic illness and improving overall consumer health through personalized disease management and wellness programs are proven to be effective, but today, only those patients and health plan members who are most at risk get personalized attention.

13 Oct 2009

Health care reform should include transparency requirements for PBMs: Consumer groups

More than 30 groups representing consumer, labor and Medicare beneficiaries have joined a growing coalition urging Congress to support transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the health care reform proposals being considered by Congress.

13 Oct 2009

Fully insured members of AvMed Health to receive coverage for H1N1 flu administration fees

AvMed Health Plans announced that it will cover H1N1 flu administration fees for all of its fully insured members. Co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles will not apply for administration of the H1N1 vaccine even if they have a benefit plan that does not include immunizations.

12 Oct 2009

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

Medicare News and Research

Premier Purchasing Partners awards new agreements for blood bank analyzers

Kidney Care Partners commends CBC for supporting reforms to improve access to quality kidney care

New OASIS-C products to meet extensive regulatory changes mandated by CMS

President Obama to sign a healthcare reform package, according to members of Congress

Webinar to discuss the issues surrounding disease management programs

Health care reform should include transparency requirements for PBMs: Consumer groups

Fully insured members of AvMed Health to receive coverage for H1N1 flu administration fees

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

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