Organization

Centers For Medicaid & Medicare Services


New HIMSS site covers quality improvement basics

Industry News | Wednesday, September 01 2010
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has launched Quality 101, an online resource for the basics and metrics of quality measurement and improvement.
 

CMS issues compliancy reminder for HIPAA orgs in January 2011

Industry News | Tuesday, August 31 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a reminder to healthcare providers, health plans, clearinghouses and vendors about the approaching January 2011 compliance date for testing transaction standards.
 

CHIME releases EHR implementation guidebook

Industry News | Wednesday, August 25 2010
“More hospitals and integrated delivery systems are relying on CMIOs … in efforts to bridge the gap between clinicians and IT staff,” states a guidebook published by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), intended to support healthcare CIOs in the implementation of EHRs to meet the meaningful use requirements issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
 

Alabama extends Medicaid management deal with HP

Industry News | Tuesday, August 24 2010
Hewlett-Packard (HP) has signed a $135 million, eight-year technology services contract with the Alabama Medicaid Agency, which oversees the Medicaid program for more than 900,000 state residents.
 

CMS issues guidance for state Medicaid IT implementation

Top Stories | Monday, August 23 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing guidance for state Medicaid directors and agencies regarding the implementation of CMS’ final regulations to allow the payment of incentives to eligible professionals and hospitals to promote the adoption and meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
 

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

Web Exclusives | Sunday, August 15 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.
 

'Medical necessity' joins RAC review requirements

Industry News | Friday, August 13 2010
To help shrink improper payments, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a list of medical necessity review audits required for its Medicare recovery audit contractor (RAC) program.
 

Report: Relaxed meaningful use criteria reflect reality

Industry News | Friday, August 13 2010
Final meaningful use rules that relax criteria slightly for EMRs reflect a more realistic approach given the slow adoption rates of EMRs among physicians over the past few years, according to a report from healthcare research firm Kalorama Information.
 

Ortho society endorses EHR\EMR adoption, with reservations

Industry News | Thursday, August 12 2010
Access to and correct usage of patient EHRs\EMRs provide major benefits to patients and physicians alike, according to the newly adopted American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) position statement on EHRs\EMRs.
 

CMS issues final rule for payment error rates measurement program

Industry News | Wednesday, August 11 2010
In order to curb improper payments in the Medicare and Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the final rules of its Payment Error Rate Measurement program, which aims to make the current process more transparent.
 

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Web Exclusives | Tuesday, August 10 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.
 

CMS amends restriction of ‘only one’ FDG PET scan for certain tumors

Top Stories | Sunday, August 08 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a decision memo stating that the national coverage determination manual will be changed to remove the current absolute restriction of coverage to ‘only one’ FDG PET scan, and local Medicare administrative contractors will have discretion to cover (or not cover) any additional FDG PET scan for initial treatment strategy in solid tumors and myeloma.
 

Payors get into meaningful use incentives game

Top Stories | Friday, August 06 2010
Aetna, through its provider contracting process, will offer financial incentives to physicians who achieve specific quality of care goals and who make investments in technology for implementation of an EHR.
 

Encore debuts EHR tools to assist meaningful use efforts

New Products | Friday, August 06 2010
Health IT company Encore Health Resources inaugurated its EHRight tool this month to help hospitals meet federal requirements for the meaningful use of EHRs.
 

CMS grants $5.75M matching funds to states for EHR incentives

Top Stories | Wednesday, August 04 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded $5.75 million in federal matching funds across six states and the District of Columbia for state planning activities to implement the EHR incentive program established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
 

Ingenix looks to medical necessity as next venture

Mergers & Acquisitions | Wednesday, August 04 2010
Ingenix, a health IT and services company, has acquired Executive Health Resources, a developer of medical necessity compliance and physician medical management technologies for hospitals.
 

CMS cuts hospital payments by 2.9%

Top Stories | Saturday, July 31 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a prospective payment system final rule for fiscal year 2011 for acute-care and long-term care hospitals that would decrease average inpatient payments by 0.4 percent.
 

HIT Standards Committee: Meaningful use enters operations phase

Industry News | Wednesday, July 28 2010
Written by Mary Stevens
The final rule for Stage 1 meaningful use has been published in the Federal Register, marking “the end of just one part of the first cycle that is the first stage of meaningful use,” said Karen Trudel, deputy director of the Office of E-Health Standards & Services at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, speaking at the July 27 meeting of the Health IT Standards Committee. “We’re moving away from a totally completely a policy development process to one that is a mixture of policy and operations,” she said.
 

JNCI: CTC is not cost-effective at current reimbursement rates

Top Stories | Wednesday, July 28 2010
CT colonography (CTC), or virtual colonoscopy, is not cost-effective if reimbursed at the same rate as colonoscopy, based on a study published online July 27 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. However, the accompanying editorial noted that cost-effectiveness analyses are useful, but that they often cannot include some important considerations.
 

Health Affairs: Public hospital reporting needs to bulk up on data

Top Stories | Monday, July 26 2010
Publicly reporting key process indicators may be clinically linked to improving hospital performance, lowering mortality and reducing length of stay, but alone they may provide too little information to be used as an indicator for healthcare quality, according to a study published in this month's Health Affairs.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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