Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

See the following -

OIG: Medicare Could Have Saved $910M On Lab Tests

Ashley Gold | FierceHealthcare | June 12, 2013

Medicare could have saved $910 million--38 percent--on lab test payments if it would have paid providers at the lowest established rate in each geographic area, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General. Read More »

OIG: Medicare Provider Databases Need Better Management

Anthony Brino | Government Health IT | May 30, 2013

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General is recommending improvements to management of the agency’s two Medicare provider databases. Read More »

ONC Rejects Claims Questioning Future Of EHR Certification

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | November 17, 2014

EHR certification at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is alive and well despite recent regulatory and organizational developments that might indicate otherwise, claims the recently appointed head of the Health IT Certification Program...

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ONC Targets 2024 For Full Health IT Interoperability

Kyle Murphy | EHRIntelligence.com | June 9, 2014

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has set its sights on 2024 as the target for achieving system-wide interoperability in the United States, according to ten-year plan published recently by the federal agency...

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Only Six People Managed To Enroll In Health Insurance On Healthcare.gov's First Day

Adrianne Jeffries | The Verge | November 1, 2013

Just six people were able to successfully enroll in health insurance through Healthcare.gov, the government's online marketplace, during the first 24 hours it was live. Just 242 people were able to enroll on the second day. Read More »

Open Payments Website Opens Tuesday; Database Spotlights Physician Payments

Jaimy Lee | Crain's Detroit Business | September 29, 2014

Dr. Uzma Samadani, a New York City neurosurgeon, publicly discloses that she receives 6 percent of her revenue from research funding and has equity in a startup medical technology firm she founded.  Samadani and about 300 other doctors and clinicians are members of “Who's My Doctor?,” a new national group that encourages physicians to not only disclose to patients their financial relationships with medical manufacturers, but also report other details about their professional finances, such as whether they receive fee-for-service payments that could motivate them to perform more services...

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OSEHRA to Launch Workgroup to Develop Strategy for Open Health Community

Major developments in open source health information technology are opening all kinds of opportunities for the members of the OSEHRA community. These developments include the open source strategy embraced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to modernize the state Medicaid IT infrastructure, the rapid adoption of open source APIs, including Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), and the emergence of blockchain technology and middleware solutions to fix the interoperability crisis.

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Patient Groups Call For Direct To Help Accelerate Data Exchange

Dan Bowman | FierceHealthIT | May 3, 2013

The Direct standard, which enables participants to send authenticated and encrypted health data directly to trusted recipients online, could help to accelerate health information exchange efforts, according to a pair of consumer coalitions. Read More »

Pitching Medicaid IT in Silicon Valley

Andrew Slavitt | CMS Blog | May 25, 2016

Earlier this year, I announced a new effort to connect new, innovative companies and their investors to the state Medicaid program IT space. Since this announcement, I have been encouraged by the initial interest from companies that may not have otherwise ever thought about participating in this important health insurance program that covers more than 72 million Americans. That’s why I’m in Silicon Valley today to participate in a forum on bringing technological advances to Medicaid. The forum is convening states, innovative tech companies, and federal Medicaid officials on how to collaborate to improve the delivery of Medicaid health coverage in states.

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Poor MU Showing Renews Calls For Change

Mike Miliard | Healthcare IT News | November 5, 2014

A fresh batch of disheartening Stage 2 attestation numbers has prompted several industry groups to once again implore the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to shorten the meaningful use reporting period in 2015...

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Practicing in an Age of Uncertainty

If you've ever had a hard time trying to decide what's best for your health (e.g., Sorry, There's Nothing Magical About Breakfast), perhaps you can take comfort in the fact that physicians often aren't so sure either. Or perhaps not. A new study in Annals of Surgery, and nicely reported on by Julia Belluz in Vox, focused on surgical uncertainty.  The researchers sent four detailed clinical vignettes to a national sample of surgeons, seeking to get their assessment on the risks/benefits of operative and non-operative treatment, as well as their recommendations. You'd like to think there was good consensus on what to do, but that was not the case...

Premium Article Law's Penalties Spur Dallas-Area Hospitals To Improve Care

Sherry Jacobson | Dallas Morning News | June 11, 2013

A million times a year, [patients suffering from congestive heart failure] are admitted to U.S. hospitals, stabilized and sent home. But it doesn’t last long. Almost a quarter of heart failure patients on Medicare are readmitted within 30 days, as sick as ever. But that’s about to change. Read More »

Proposed Rules Would Extend EHR Safe Harbor

Joseph Conn | ModernHealthcare.com | April 9, 2013

The CMS and HHS' inspector general's office have issued a pair of complementary proposed rules to extend 2006 waivers that relaxed federal Stark and anti-kickback laws to promote the use of electronic health-record systems. Read More »

Provider EHR Adoption Is Only One Half Of Meaningful Use

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | June 7, 2013

With the beginning of Stage 2 Meaningful Use approaching in several months for eligible hospitals, healthcare organizations participating in the EHR Incentive Programs will need to exceed thresholds for exchanging health information between providers and between providers and patients. Read More »

Researchers Find A Way To Hack Spanish Language HealthCare.gov

Aliya Sternstein | Nextgov | October 30, 2013

Until fixed on Wednesday afternoon, a security flaw in CuidadoDeSalud.gov -- the Spanish language version of HealthCare.gov -- could have allowed hackers to steal personal information from enrollees as they typed, according to three independent software developers. The Health and Human Services Department repaired the software error after Nextgov inquired about the defect early Wednesday. Read More »