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By: Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media, June 11, 2009
Two bills introduced Thursday would revise the rules that underpay California physicians for treating Medicare patients by redefining their practices as more expensive and urban, instead of rural. Other states have disparities in physician payments because of the issue as well, but the remedy is just for California.
By: Janice Simmons, for HealthLeaders Media, June 12, 2009
The 15-member Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, which held its final listening session this week in Washington, heard from many healthcare providers in that session on the challenges of working effectively with data. The council will now evaluate testimony from all three of its sessions and prepare recommendations this month for the White House and Congress on where efforts for comparative effectiveness research should be focused.
By: Lisa Eramo, for HealthLeaders Media, June 11, 2009
Patients in Rhode Island will soon have a choice regarding whether they will allow their protected health information shared through a statewide health information exchange. The exchange will also allow their providers access to lab data and medication history.
By: Liz Jones, June 12, 2009
Nurse practitioners in New York State will be able to practice independently if a bill drafted by the Nurse Practitioners Association of New York passes through the state Senate. Currently, NPs in New York State are required to have written collaborative agreements with physicians. The extent of that relationship is determined by the physician and NP, and the two parties do not need to practice in the same location, explains Tom Nicotera, director of membership and public affairs at the Nurse Practitioners Association of New York.
By: Ben Amirault, for HealthLeaders Media, June 12, 2009
Earlier this week, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey agreed to pay the federal government $2 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that it bilked Medicaid in a double-billing scheme that started in 1993 and ended in 2003, according to the Department of Justice.
By: Heather Comak, for HealthLeaders Media, June 11, 2009
Patient safety rounds cannot only find trouble spots that leaders may not have known existed, but they also may improve the culture among staff members.
By: Elyas Bakhtiari, for HealthLeaders Media, June 11, 2009
The first healthcare reform bill emerged this week, and it marks the beginning of what should be an interesting, and probably volatile, few months for the healthcare industry.
By: Janice Simmons, for HealthLeaders Media, June 11, 2009
The concept of "comparative effectiveness research" has been mentioned so many times during healthcare reform deliberations that some suggested that they think of a less controversial name.