The U.S. Department Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced the first batch of organizations for Health Care Innovation awards. The awards, funded by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will support 26 projects across the U.S. that, according to the agency, will save money, deliver high-quality medical care and enhance the healthcare workforce. The preliminary awardees predict reducing spending by $254 million over the next three years.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced a proposed rule that would establish a unique health plan identifier under HIPAA. The proposed rule also delays required compliance by one year—from Oct. 1, 2013, to Oct. 1, 2014—for new codes used to classify diseases and health problems.
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) has submitted the latest ICD-10 industry readiness survey results to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. WEDI’s report revealed that many of U.S. healthcare providers are not on track to meet the October 2013 compliance date.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has released policies to assist states in building Affordable Insurance Exchanges. Starting in 2014, these one-stop marketplaces will allow consumers and small businesses to choose a private health insurance plan and offer the public the same kinds of insurance choices as members of Congress.
The mandated Jan. 1 conversion to a new set of electronic claims transaction standards is not going smoothly for office-based physicians, disrupting medical groups' cash flow and creating hassles, according to the head of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)-American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE).
In a Dec. 15 letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., formally requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM), to reduce alarm fatigue and create best practice guidelines for vendors developing computerized decision support (CDS) systems.
The Department of Health and Human Services released a bulletin Dec. 15, outlining proposed policies that will give states more flexibility and freedom to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The meaningful use Stage 2 deadline has been extended to 2014 for eligible hospitals and professionals that qualified as Stage 1 meaningful users in 2011, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) has thrown the hammer down in his vendetta against the Health Research and Services Administration (HRSA) in a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concerning HRSA’s decision to shut down public access to the National Practitioner Data Bank’s Public Use File.
In an Oct. 25 letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and other industry stakeholders urged the implementation of the Physician Payment Sunshine Provision, a part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires drug, device and medical supply manufacturers to report payments made to physicians and teaching hospitals.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a series of initiatives to assist more than 900 community health centers and community-based organizations to enhance the quality and coordination of healthcare services.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with several association and industry partners, has launched Million Hearts, an initiative that aims to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes in the U.S. over the next five years. Currently, cardiovascular disease (CVD) costs $444 billion every year in medical costs and lost productivity for people living in the U.S.
The National Priorities Partnership (NPP) has submitted a report to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who earlier asked for input on specific goals and measures for each of six National Quality Strategy (NQS) priorities related to the delivery of healthcare.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that Leon Rodriguez has been appointed the director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed new rules to expand the rights of patients to access their health information through the use of health IT. Specifically, the new rule gives patients access to test results directly from labs.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit curtly handed down an opinion in the Obama administration’s favor by vacating and remanding the Commonwealth of Virginia’s challenge to the constitutionality of the individual mandate provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
In U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ annual report to Congress, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reported that between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2010, breaches involving 500 or more individuals were less than 1 percent of the breaches reported, but accounted for more than 99 percent of the more than 5.4 million individuals who were affected.
Certain U.S. rural health networks will receive more than $11.9 million to support their adoption of health IT and certified EHR technology. The funding, announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, also will help these rural health networks’ participating eligible providers qualify for Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payments, administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has awarded up to $137 million, partly supported by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), to states to strengthen the public health infrastructure and provide jobs in core areas of public health.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released updated regulations on financial conflicts of interest for investigators and institutions that apply for Public Health Service (PHS) funding. The update is designed to provide a framework for identifying, reporting and managing financial conflicts of interest in an effort to enhance transparency and avoid conflicts that may bias research results and threaten credibility and public trust.
