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Picis launches LYNX CareBridge software to help hospitals address medical necessity challenges

To admit or not to admit? That’s the question being asked by many emergency department (ED) physicians and hospital administrators hundreds of times a day. Hospitals often place patients into observation who might otherwise be admitted, because intensity of service and medical necessity for these patients are not clearly defined or documented.

17 Feb 2010

MBF to invest nearly $50M of equity capital to support Florida HMO

MBF Healthcare Partners, L.P. (“MBF”), a healthcare services focused private equity firm, announced its plans to invest up to $50 million of equity capital to support Simply Healthcare Plans of Florida, Inc. (“SHP”), an HMO based in Coral Gables, Florida. The equity investment will be used to fund expansion and acquisition efforts in Medicare and Medicaid. SHP is a licensed HMO in Florida that has been approved by the State to expand into the Medicare and Medicaid markets.

17 Feb 2010

Shared Health partners with MEDai to provide HIE platform to the state of Tennessee

Shared Health, Inc., Tennessee's largest public/private health information exchange (HIE) has partnered with MEDai, an Elsevier company, to provide a rich, interoperable, clinically relevant HIE platform to the state of Tennessee. This partnership delivers best in class solutions and technologies that support clinical excellence and operating efficiencies.

17 Feb 2010

In naming Islamic Conference Envoy, Obama highlights global health, food security efforts

During a video address to the 7th U.S.-Islamic World Forum meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, President Barack Obama appointed Rashad Hussain, deputy associate White House counsel, to serve as Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Associated Press reports.

17 Feb 2010

AZ&Me Prescription Savings programs help 13% more patients in 2009

AstraZeneca announced today that it provided $769.6 million in savings to 507,475 patients in the United States last year through its AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings programs.

17 Feb 2010

4 Senate Democrats ask Reid to go back to public option

Four Senate Democrats are asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to revisit a plan for a government run health plan, or public option, in the health care overhaul legislation.

17 Feb 2010

Utah dentists use Apex OneTouch solution to process patient insurance claims for reimbursement

Apex EDI, one of the nation’s leading e-claims reimbursement companies for dental and medical professionals, has served more than 1,100 dentists in Utah with leading-edge technology solutions focused on streamlined and efficient claims processing. More than 50 percent of all dentists in Utah actively use the Apex electronic claims solution to process patient insurance claims for reimbursement -- more than all other clearinghouses combined.

17 Feb 2010

Senators Durbin, Brown travel to Africa to focus on health, other issues

U.S. senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) departed Friday "for a trip to Africa," the Associated Press/Chicago Tribune reports. The Senators "planned to visit Tanzania, Congo, Ethiopia and Sudan. They [are] expected to return to the United States on Feb. 19" (2/13).

17 Feb 2010

CMS study predicts healthcare spending may double by 2019

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc.. Unlike other industries, spending on healthcare showed no signs of slowing down and the sector made its biggest one-year jump ever according to a new study by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

17 Feb 2010

States struggle with insurance cost and coverage in Ohio, Rhode Island and Nebraska

The Columbus Dispatch reports that a health-insurance co-operative founded by Tom Rose, a retired businessman from Marietta, Ohio, "hopes to give people who feel alone in the health-care market that power-in-numbers feeling. ... Benefits Unlimited Inc. started in 2007 and started accepting dues-paying members across the nation last month. ... Annual dues range from $25 for an individual or household to $1,500 for employers or associations with 500 or more people.

17 Feb 2010

Scienta Health signs agreement with Partners HealthCare to provide advanced acute care to its clients

Scienta Health today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Boston-based Partners HealthCare, the leading academic medical network in the U.S. Partners HealthCare includes major teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School: the Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, McLean Hospital, a treatment and research leader in mental illness, chemical dependency and learning disabilities; and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, a top-ranked rehabilitation facility.

17 Feb 2010

Investigation: Dangerous caregivers missing from federal database of disciplinary records

News outlets report on health care fraud and legal issues, including missing disciplinary records in a federal database of dangerous caregivers and a new federal bill that would target fake Medicare claims for prescriptions and equipment.

17 Feb 2010

Poll says most Americans want to start over on health reform

In a new poll from Zogby International and the University of Texas Health Science Center, more than half of respondents said Congress should start over on health care reforms, The Hill reports.

17 Feb 2010

Study shows value-based plans can improve adherence for diabetes medicines

A study by CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), published this week in the American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, finds that insurance benefit designs that reduce the cost of medications for plan participants result in patients being more likely to start and stay on their medication therapy.

17 Feb 2010

As politics swirl, both sides prepare for health care summit

With the White House health summit quickly approaching, members from both sides of the aisle "are pressing story lines on how the reform debate has played out that aren't as tidy or truthful as Democrats and Republicans would like voters to believe," Politico reports. "The summit could help reset the negotiations, but with [President Barack] Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, other top administration officials and 37 lawmakers all in attendance, the likelihood of a serious breakthrough appears dim."

17 Feb 2010

Two prominent Georgia physicians call for Senate action to stop 21% Medicare cut

Making a plea to Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, two prominent Georgia physicians who head national physician organizations joined with American Medical Association (AMA) President J. James Rohack, M.D. to call for Senate action this month to stop a 21 percent Medicare cut that will hurt seniors and military families on March 1.

17 Feb 2010

Even with new medical schools opening, shortages mar workforce

Nearly two dozen medical schools have recently opened or may open across America, "the most at any time since the 1960s and '70s," The New York Times reports. These new institutions "are seeking to address an imbalance in American medicine that has been growing for a quarter century. Many bright students were fleeing to offshore medical schools, or giving up hope entirely, when they could not get into domestic schools. Meanwhile, American hospitals were using foreign-trained and foreign-born physicians to fill medical residencies. During the 1980s and '90s only one new medical school was established."

17 Feb 2010

Amid stalled health reform efforts, advocates emerge for the state-by-state approach

Proponents of state-based health reform are saying that the federal stall over a health overhaul is giving states a perfect opportunity to showcase what they can do to solve the health care cost and coverage crisis, The Washington Post reports.

17 Feb 2010

National symposium aims to attract more women for a rewarding career in surgery

While interviewing for postgraduate residency positions soon after giving birth to her third child, Dr. Sharona Ross recalls, she was very hesitant to bring up her infant and two small children at home. She thought it would hurt her chances for a career in surgery.

17 Feb 2010

American Heart Association announces strategic goal to reduce stroke and cardiovascular diseases

Racial gaps exist in women's heart-health awareness, women's knowledge of heart attack warning signs requires attention and nearly half of women report they would not call 9-1-1 if they were having heart attack symptoms, according to new research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association.

16 Feb 2010

Healthcare News

Picis launches LYNX CareBridge software to help hospitals address medical necessity challenges

MBF to invest nearly $50M of equity capital to support Florida HMO

Shared Health partners with MEDai to provide HIE platform to the state of Tennessee

In naming Islamic Conference Envoy, Obama highlights global health, food security efforts

AZ&Me Prescription Savings programs help 13% more patients in 2009

4 Senate Democrats ask Reid to go back to public option

Utah dentists use Apex OneTouch solution to process patient insurance claims for reimbursement

Senators Durbin, Brown travel to Africa to focus on health, other issues

CMS study predicts healthcare spending may double by 2019

States struggle with insurance cost and coverage in Ohio, Rhode Island and Nebraska

Scienta Health signs agreement with Partners HealthCare to provide advanced acute care to its clients

Investigation: Dangerous caregivers missing from federal database of disciplinary records

Poll says most Americans want to start over on health reform

Study shows value-based plans can improve adherence for diabetes medicines

As politics swirl, both sides prepare for health care summit

Two prominent Georgia physicians call for Senate action to stop 21% Medicare cut

Even with new medical schools opening, shortages mar workforce

Amid stalled health reform efforts, advocates emerge for the state-by-state approach

National symposium aims to attract more women for a rewarding career in surgery

American Heart Association announces strategic goal to reduce stroke and cardiovascular diseases

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