AHIMA Convention Makes PHI Data Security A Top Priority
Why should hospitals centralize their policies and procedures for disclosing protected health information?
At the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) convention Wednesday, Don E. Hardwick, client relations and compliance, MRO Corp., a document and disclosure management company in King of Prussia, Pa., told the story of one hospital client that left PHI management up to each department.
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RSNA 2012 Lecture Preview – Big IT Changes Needed in Radiology
Healthcare IT takes center stage at the Radiological Society of North America’s 98th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting this year, with two plenary sessions devoted to meaningful use and health IT.
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Five Distinct Challenges Of Meaningful Use Stage 2
As healthcare providers and organizations carefully review the Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements, they will notice a number of changes, tighter requirements and higher percentages to hit. Paying very close attention to the numerous changes in Stage 2 as this may impact whether or not eligible providers and hospitals qualify to receive their entire incentive payments.
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Is Telehealth The Next Transformative Phenomena In Healthcare?
A report from Frost & Sullivan finds that telehealth – whether it’s remote patient monitoring, mHealth or video telemedicine – is a confusing jumble, with many practical hurdles ahead. But it’s also one of the most exciting and potentially transformative phenomena in healthcare.
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4 Ways Physician Patient Engagement Enhances Care And Reduces Costs
To get better care for patients and lower costs, it’s important to stitch together the experience of patients both while they’re in the hospital and immediately afterwards.
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Medical Practices Remain Concerned Over ICD-10 Switchover
Medical practices nationwide have expressed their concern regarding the impact of an ICD-10 switchover, according to a recent survey finding 96 percent of respondents concerned about the transition to the updated coding system.
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Best Practices to Minimize Cash Flow Disruptions Due to ICD-10
When any business is involved with a major system conversion, at risk is the potential disruption to cash flow, resulting in a negative impact to the bottom line. With the current ICD-10 implementation deadline of October 1, 2013 quickly approaching, medical organizations need to be well prepared to handle the financial risks associated with this initiative.
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Research Finds Healthcare IT Is Key To Improving Population Health
Managing population health requires new skill sets, new infrastructures and automation, according to new research from the Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT2).
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CMS EHR Incentive Payments Surpassed $8 Billion in October 2012
Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record payments have surpassed $8 billion since its inception, with $8.36 billion paid out to 165,800 eligible physicians and hospitals in total program estimates through the end of October.
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The ONC Seeks Comments On Stage 3 Meaningful Use Recommendations
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the final 2014 clinical quality measures (CQMs)for eligible professionals and eligible hospitals seeking to attest for meaningful use.
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ONC Asking For Feedback On Patient Identity Tools
The privacy and security panel that advises the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has asked for public comment about how the identity of individuals should be verified when they electronically access their health records.
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HHS Announces Deadline Extension For Health Insurance Exchanges
The Department of Health and Human Services has extended the deadline for states to declare their plans for a state-based health insurance exchange for one month to accommodate many governors who were waiting until the election outcome to decide whether to move ahead.
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Final Rule Increases Medicaid Payment Rates For Primary Care Physicians
Physicians who treat Medicaid patients will get a pay raise in two months when Medicaid reimbursement rates becoming equal to Medicare reimbursement rates for primary care services.
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CMS Final Rule Increases Payment Rates for Outpatient And ASC’s
he CMS has issued a final payment rule (PDF) for hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgery center services, upping hospital payment rates by 1.8% and increasing payments to ASCs by 0.6% in the upcoming year.
The agency estimated that payments for hospitals under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System will total roughly $48.1 billion in 2013. Payments to ambulatory surgery centers will be approximately $4.07 billion, according to the CMS.
The rule bases relative payment weights on geometric mean costs rather than median costs. The agency said doing so would better reflect the average costs of services and align the payment methodology with the inpatient prospective payment system.
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