Physicians Support Stimulus Package's IT initiatives, Allscripts Survey Shows
from Healthcare IT News
Results of a nationwide survey of healthcare providers released Monday by Allscripts shows that physician groups support measures in the economic stimulus package that provide federal loans, grants and incentives to promote broader adoption of health information technology. The survey of 1,888 physicians, medical group executives and staff reveals a consensus among medical groups that funding is critical, with 82 percent of respondents strongly agreeing that the government should provide funding for electronic health records in the economic stimulus package. More

Health Care Facilities Scrambling to Deal with Death with Dignity Act
from The Seattle Times
With just a month before the Death with Dignity Act takes effect in Washington, hospitals and other health-care institutions are racing to learn the details of the law, decide if they will participate and put together policies that address the law's many nuances and complexities.Statewide, many health-care systems and hospice programs have not yet come up with final policies on whether, or how, they will participate. More

America’s Health System Put to Test in Tough Times
from Health News
Health care in the United States is preparing to be put to the test. At a crucial time in the economic history of the country, advances made toward providing health care to more and more people may not be enough to counter the vast numbers of citizens losing health care benefits in the current recession. While it may be months or years before the truth is revealed in numbers and statistics, there is no doubt that the health care system is now facing one of its greatest challenges in decades. More

SHCA Online Education
from Vermont Public Radio
Vermont health care providers need better education about end-of life care, pain management and palliative care. That's one of the findings of a legislative study committee that's just released a series of recommendations. The committee found that patients do not get timely information about the options available to them and their families in end-of life situations. More

Go Get the Medicaid Money: A Message to Gov. Quinn
from Chicago Tribune
Here’s an important item for Gov. Pat Quinn’s to-do list: Get hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for health care that’s been promised to Illinois but never received. You might think the state would want the money in the midst of its budget crisis, with many hospitals stretched to the breaking point financially and crying for relief. But since early December, when funds became available, the state has failed to draw them down. The money is available through Illinois’ hospital assessment program, which employs complex financing techniques to win extra allocations from Medicaid, a government health plan for the poor. More

Three-Quarters of Americans Believe Health Insurance Should Pay for Addiction Treatment, Says New Hazelden
from Hazelden Foundation via PR Newswire
Nearly three out of four Americans (71 percent) agree that health insurance should cover the cost of addiction treatment - yet most consumers have no idea if their own health insurance would pay for substance abuse treatment, according to the first-ever "Public Attitudes Toward Addiction Survey" from Hazelden, the national nonprofit organization that helps people reclaim their lives from drug addiction. More

Health Companies Complain as Medicare Reduces Payments for Oxygen Therapy
from Gainesville Times
Home health companies that provide oxygen therapy are unhappy about new Medicare rules that limit reimbursement, and they warn that the policy change could harm patients. Medicare officials , however, say patients are not in danger of losing oxygen service and the providers are needlessly frightening elderly people. "It’s an issue of concern," said Laurence Wilson, director of chronic care policy at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. More