Latest Healthcare Policy & IT News: i360 Gov

Lawmakers' bills keep spotlight on ICD-10 debate

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:54:05 -0400

Modern Healthcare (complimentary online subscription): Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has introduced a Senate version of the Cutting Costly Codes Act of 2013, a bill aimed at blocking HHS from implementing the ICD-10 diagnostic and procedural codes, which it is scheduled to do on Oct. 1, 2014.

OIG lets state Medicaid fraud units use federal funds for analytics

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:53:28 -0400

Government Health IT: States will soon be able to use federal matching funds to finance data analytics for Medicaid fraud prevention, under regulations finalized by the Department of Health and Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Medicaid Fraud: Is it Worth States’ Time to Fight it?

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:52:54 -0400

Government Technology: Medicaid fraud has been a big problem for years, and as states ramp up for the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion deadline in 2014, it could become an even bigger one. More enrollees plus more providers equals more fraud potential. When estimates place the amount of Medicaid waste in 2012 at $19 billion for the feds and $11 billion in 2010 for the states, we’re talking real money. Can states really put a lid on fraud? And, more important, is it worth the cost to do so?

Analytics will be the 'nervous system' of ACOs

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:52:09 -0400

Fierce Health IT: A new report from the Institute of Health Technology Transformation (iHT2) resonates a familiar theme: Analytics are the key to population health management and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

Medicaid Expansion by the Numbers

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:54:54 -0400

Stateline: The ACA was expected to cover 32 million uninsured Americans by 2022. Of those, 17 million were projected to be covered by expanding Medicaid to low income adults in all 50 states.

The Health Toll of Immigration

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:54:09 -0400

The New York Times: BROWNSVILLE, Tex. — Becoming an American can be bad for your health.

A growing body of mortality research on immigrants has shown that the longer they live in this country, the worse their rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. And while their American-born children may have more money, they tend to live shorter lives than the parents.

ONC launches cancer care app challenge

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:53:32 -0400

Government Health IT: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is launching the Crowds Care for Cancer: Supporting Survivors Challenge in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute as part of the Investing in Innovation program, also known as i2.

NY: Public PHR portal in works for New York

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:52:18 -0400

Healthcare IT News: The New York eHealth Collaborative has announced the winners of its personal health record portal challenge, with the designs in turn expected to inform the PHR that NYeC will offer all New Yorkers in 2014.

House Votes Again to Repeal Health Law

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:20:20 -0400

The New York Times: WASHINGTON — One by one, they queued up in the aisles of the House of Representatives, eager for their one minute to unload on President Obama’s signature legislative achievement.

Obamacare: 3 years in, it faces steep challenges

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:19:50 -0400

USA Today: WASHINGTON -- The Affordable Care Act is sure to survive the latest vote by the House of Representatives Thursday to repeal it — since the Senate doesn't plan to take it up and President Obama would veto a repeal bill if it somehow reached his desk — but the administration's signature legislative achievement still faces serious perils ahead.

Bipartisan bill would slash iEHR funding

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:19:20 -0400

Government Health IT: Members of Congress are lauding a bipartisan bill that limits funding for an integrated electronic health record system between VA and DoD and requires aggressive progress updates from both agencies, which have, in recent months, come under fire for the dilatory pace at which they're moving forward with the iEHR.

Reform Update: IRS controversy reaches ACA

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:14:51 -0400

Modern Healthcare (complimentary online subscription): The tentacles of the Internal Revenue Service controversy have reached the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On Wednesday, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) introduced legislation, the IRS Accountability Act, to halt funding to the IRS for new agents enforcing the ACA

CMS tightens focus with next round of innovation awards

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:57:49 -0400

Modern Healthcare (complimentary online subscription): The CMS Innovation Center will apply a more focused approach for the second round of the healthcare reform law's Health Care Innovation Awards that the agency announced Wednesday.

FL: Florida boosts fraud prevention in public assistance programs

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:57:16 -0400

Government Health IT: The Florida Department of Children and Families, which co-manages children health insurance and other health and social programs, has launched what state officials call a “first in the nation” fraud prevention technology.

Post-discharge plans get mobile boost

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:55:55 -0400

Healthcare IT News: It's often been said that telehealth programs offer benefits to healthcare providers in both rural and urban settings. Vree Health is proving that point with two new contracts – one in Big Sky Country, the other in the heavily populated Northeast.

US Senate confirms Tavenner as Medicare/Medicaid chief

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:52:44 -0400

Reuters: The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Marilyn Tavenner, a former nurse and hospital company executive, as the first full-fledged administrator for the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs since 2006.

Feds propose overhaul for child care centers

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:52:03 -0400

Seattle Times: Federal health officials say they will propose Thursday to overhaul federally funded child care centers across the country, beefing up safety standards including background and fingerprint checks for employees and requiring states to better monitor the facilities.

House to Vote Yet Again on Repealing Health Care Law

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:32:42 -0400

The New York Times: WASHINGTON — The 37th time won’t be the charm. But House Republicans are charging forward anyway this week on a vote to repeal President Obama’s signature health care overhaul, which will put the number of times they have tried to eliminate, defund or curtail the law past the three-dozen mark.

Two million fewer U.S. uninsured to gain health coverage: Congressional researchers

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:29:44 -0400

Reuters: President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform law will extend coverage to 2 million fewer uninsured Americans than expected only a few months ago, congressional researchers said on Tuesday.

Reform Update: No clear map for Medicaid expansion in red states

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:28:51 -0400

Modern Healthcare (complimentary online subscription): Republican governors backing an expansion of Medicaid continue to hit headwinds in those efforts, and it is unclear what lessons can be drawn from the outcomes experienced by two of their colleagues.

Mostashari: 3 tactics to redesign care and reap HIT

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:28:08 -0400

Government Health IT: “It’s systems that let ordinary people do extraordinary things,” national coordinator for health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD said during a HIT Policy Committee meeting talk that vice chair Paul Tang described immediately afterward as “inspiring and challenging.”

TX: Texas legislature expands e-check-ins

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:27:31 -0400

Government Health IT: The Texas House and Senate have passed a bill expanding the use of driver’s licenses for patient identify verification and check-ins.

Washington Debrief: Lawmakers Want Ideas on Medicare Payment Changes

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:26:57 -0400

Healthcare Informatics: Following a request for feedback from Senators in Washington on the status of health IT adoption, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) issued a response declaring that a one-year extension of Meaningful Use Stage 2 would “maximize the opportunity of program success.”

Mostashari urges healthcare change

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:26:18 -0400

Healthcare IT News: “It’s systems that let ordinary people do extraordinary things,” national coordinator for health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD said during a Health IT Policy Committee meeting talk that vice chair Paul Tang described immediately afterward as “inspiring and challenging.”

89 charged in Medicare fraud busts

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:25:29 -0400

Modern Healthcare (complimentary online subscription): Nearly 100 people, including 14 doctors and nurses, were charged for their roles in separate Medicare scams that collectively billed the taxpayer-funded program for roughly $223 million in bogus charges in a massive bust spanning eight cities, federal authorities said Tuesday.