California's El Camino Hospital located in the Silicon Valley just made it easier for consumers on the go to shop for medical services. According to Modern Healthcare, their online price estimator gives individuals personalized and reliable estimates for the services they are interested in or need.
The market comes from a digital,...National News
Previously, patients who have these medical devices have been denied MRI services because of concerns about their safety while undergoing the imaging procedures.
The devices include an implanted FDA-approved pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator, cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker, or cardiac resynchronization...National News
The Human Rights Watch report makes the claim that the overmedication of antipsychotics in nursing homes has become an epidemic.
The report quotes Walter L., a Texas nursing home patient who was given antipsychotics. “Too many times I’m given too many pills…, I can’t even talk. I have a thick tongue when they do that. I ask...Arizona News
Trump administration to permit requirement to work if states seek it.
The Arizona Daily Star reports Arizona is one of 10 states that have submitted applications to add work requirements for the government health insurance program for low-income people.
The state’s Medicaid program, called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment...Arizona News
She spoke to the plenary session of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) Fall Conference in Arlington, Virginia.
Verma unveiled new CMS policies that encourage states to propose innovative Medicaid reforms, reduce federal regulatory burdens, increase efficiency, and promote transparency and accountability. A CMS...Arizona News
Year-over-year (YOY), SHP doubled its earned shared savings and is the only Arizona MSSP ACO to receive a check from CMS for 2016 performance.
With a steady beneficiary pool of around 19,000 YOY, Scottsdale Health Partners generated savings of nearly $19 million, earned nearly $9 million in shared savings and received an overall...National News
The new approach aims to streamline the measures hospitals and physician practices must report on, focusing on those most essential to quality of care and improved outcomes.
Healthcare IT News quotes Administrator Seema Verma:
We need to move from fee-for-service to a system that pays for value and quality – but how we define value...National News
Payment reform is critical to building a health care system that results in better accessibility, quality, affordability, empowerment, and innovation.
The Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN), is a public-private partnership launched in March 2015 to drive adoption and alignment of Alternative Payment Models...
A refresher may be in order of what the acronyms mean and their purposes.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent US federal body. MedPAC was established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33). The Commission's 17 members bring diverse expertise in the financing and delivery of health care...
The monumental administrative task seeks to fight identity theft and fraud.
Until now, Medicare used people's Social Security numbers. But Congress in 2015 passed a law requiring the agency to change that as a way to protect seniors from identity theft. The new identifiers will be a randomly generated sequence of 11 numbers and...
Navigator groups help educate and enroll consumers in the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges. Funding disappears and no contracts offered.
At the end of August, the CMS announced plans to slash funding for navigator groups by about 40%, but the agency did not indicate it would stop funding navigation services altogether. The CMS...
CMS and Mark Farrah Associates looked at the impact of the different programs the ACA put in place to mitigate adverse selection and stabilize premiums.
Risk corridors, reinsurance and risk adjustment were the "Three R's" of the ACA. Only the risk adjustment program is permanent. It deters insurers from manipulating risk selection...National News
MACRA gives incentives to physicians to provide the best and most efficient care.
Providers participating in Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APM) may receive incentive payments. To be considered an Advanced APM, a group's participants must use certified electronic health record technology, the group must pay for covered...National News
"Don't make things worse" is the message from Thompson, Leavitt and Sibelius.
Tommy Thompson and Mike Leavitt served as Health and Human Services Secretary under George W. Bush and Kathleen Sibelius had the post under Barack Obama. They all assert that immediate stability for the individual insurance market is critically...National News
The web site shows how more than 3,800 hospices perform on seven quality measures related to patient treatment preferences, managing pain and treating symptoms.
The Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) was established at section 1814(i)(5) of the Social Security Act. The Act also requires the Secretary to publicly report, on a...Arizona News
On April 13 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tightened regulations to improve the individual market
Mixed reviews from industry experts accompanied the release of the final rule that shortens the open enrollment period, tightens the application process for special enrollment periods, requires consumers to pay up...
