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More hospitals charge upfront fees for non-urgent care in emergency rooms The Washington Post Share    
Last year, about 80,000 emergency-room patients at hospitals owned by HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, left without treatment after being told they would have to first pay $150 because they did not have a true emergency. A growing number of hospitals have implemented the pay-first policy in an effort to divert patients with routine illnesses from the ER. More
Report names top hospitals for emergency medical care HealthGrades Share
A report released by HealthGrades identified the nation's top performing hospitals for emergency medical care. The analysis also found large differences in the risk-adjusted mortality rates for patients admitted through the Emergency Department, both by hospital and by market area. The findings are based on an analysis of more than seven million Medicare patient records from 2008-10. More ICD-10: HHS postpones compliance date LifeHealthPro Share
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be giving health insurers, doctors, hospitals and others more time to shift to a new set of diagnosis codes. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced that the department will push back the date when affected healthcare entities have to move to ICD-10. Sebelius did not say what the new compliance date will be, but she said HHS will work with healthcare providers to reexamine the pace of the shift. More
Medicare physician pay frozen until 2013 American Medical News Share
Congress has deferred steep physician payment cuts under the Medicare program until 2013 but has left in place a pay formula that will slash physician rates by an estimated 32 percent next year. A 27.4 percent cut was set to hit doctor pay on March 1, but federal lawmakers adopted legislation that continues current Medicare payment rates to physicians and other health professionals under Part B for the remainder of 2012. More Government issues Medicare Advantage guidelines Reuters Share
The Obama administration issued 2013 payment and policy guidelines for U.S. health insurers that participate in the Medicare Advantage program, saying the proposed changes would bring lower premiums and stable or improved benefits. But the documents did not include an official preliminary estimate for the net average percentage change in reimbursements, leaving insurers and financial markets in the dark about the guidelines' potential impact on the industry. More
Obama budget proposal sidesteps Medicare mandatory spending cuts American Medical News Share
The Obama administration's fiscal 2013 budget proposal calls for replacing deep, mandatory health spending cuts with $360 billion in targeted health spending decreases, while providing a permanent solution to Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula. President Barack Obama's plan abandons the $1.2 trillion cut in federal spending that he and Congress approved in July 2011 as a fallback plan if lawmakers could not agree on a long-term deficit reduction measure. More Meaningful use incentive payouts top $3 billion HealthLeaders Media Share
Doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers have so far received $3.12 billion in incentive payments for adopting meaningful use measures for health information technology, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. Sebelius pointed to a survey by the American Hospital Association indicating that the percent of hospitals adopting electronic health records "has more than doubled" from 16 to 35 percent between 2009 and 2011. More
Interoperability still a barrier to meaningful use, experts find Healthcare IT News Share
Hospital adoption of electronic health records has taken a leap over the past year, but interoperability is still a significant obstacle, according to survey released by the Optum Institute. The Optum Institute found 87 percent of hospitals surveyed now have EMR systems in place. This is up significantly since 2011, when only slightly more than half of CIOs had a fully operational electronic health record in at least one facility in their organization. More Court action could prolong healthcare fight USA Today Share
Next month's challenge to the Obama-sponsored healthcare law could affect the care available to most Americans, alter the balance of power between the federal government and the states and remain a flash point through this presidential campaign. Yet there is a path the Supreme Court could take when it hears the case that could delay for years any resolution of a main point of contention. More |
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