All News

Providers stumble after recent HIPAA audits

When it comes to securing and protecting patient health information, physician practices with fewer than 50 providers fared the worst in a recent audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

IRS staffs up for Obamacare

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has 700 full-time staffers devoted to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and some pundits believe that number may grow to a minimum of 5,000 employees, according to a recent report in Forbes.

Costs to patients continue to rise

Out-of-pocket expenditures for patients increased while benefits of employer healthcare coverage became “less generous” from 2007 to 2011.

U.S. House: Does HIPAA hinder patient care?

Mental health problems and suicide risks have lawmakers questioning whether new rules surrounding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) ultimately “interfere with patient care and public safety.”

Phase out SGR with value- based models, ACP says

Although the Congressional Budget Office recently downgraded the 10-year cost of repealing the sustainable growth rate (SGR) to $138 billion, the American College of Physicians (ACP) took to the Hill advocating a phased approach to repealing it and moving to value-based models.

Coalition targets poor medication adherence rates

Two out of three patients do not adhere to their care plans. In fact, adherence problems related to prescription medications is so widespread, they are costing the United States $100 billion a year in medication-related hospital admissions.

Budget cuts signal trouble for medical education

Although the American Academy of Family Physicians threw support to President Obama’s initiative for Medicaid expansion and Medicare payment reform, across-the-board cuts to graduate medical education (GME) threaten family medicine residency programs.

Washington budget battle focuses on ACA

Republicans sharply criticized U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in trying to jump start fundraising efforts to non-profits to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The action follows repeated congressional budget denials for the healthcare law, now estimated at $1.3 trillion over 10 years, according a recent report in the Washington Post. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called the effort “absurd” and demanded an inquiry.

EHR incentive program enrollment climbs to 73%

Nearly three-fourths of eligible professionals have registered for the government’s electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs, according to a recent report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Medical practice income, expenses detailed in new statistics report

The National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants has released information on medical practice overhead percentages, average monthly charges in accounts receivable, full time equivalent staff ratios, and more in its 2012 Joint Statistics Report of Medical and Dental Statistics on Income and Expenses.

Perspective: Cost control myths must be addressed to fix health system

From misunderstandings about the role of healthcare inflation to cost controls in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), three economic myths must be addressed for the healthcare system to function properly, says Theodore R. Marmor, PhD, Yale University professor emeritus of public policy and management as well as political science. He recently spoke with Medical Economics Editor-in-Chief Lois A. Bowers, MA.