The number of claims submitted and processed electronically has almost doubled over about the past decade, according to data released Tuesday by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). AHIP said electronic claims rose from 44 percent in 2002 to 94 percent in 2011.But AHIP pressed doctors to file claims more quickly, saying 54 percent of paper claims were filed more than 30 days after the service was provided. Only 16 percent of electronic claims were filed after 30 days, AHIP said.
Even as it consolidates power over six hospitals, more than 15,000 employees and billions of dollars in revenue, University of Colorado Health is contemplating a move into the insurance business while preparing for the next revolution. The burgeoning three-state hospital group is also tearing up old delivery methods ahead of an overhaul in federal payments.
We appreciate honesty and directness in our lawmakers, but there's something quite unsettling in comments made last week by House Taxes Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenczewski, who is a DFLer from Bloomington. Just one day after Mayo Clinic announced it wants to pay for the lion's share of a $6 billion plan to turn Rochester into one of the world's foremost medical destinations, Lenczewski wasn't just skeptical—she was dismissive, calling the project "a massive public subsidy" that "seems pretty unlikely to ever happen."
U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle adopted a prosecutorial tone on Tuesday as he once again reeled off a long and pointed list of concerns about a settlement agreement hashed out between federal prosecutors and WakeMed over false Medicare billings. Was all the wrongdoing uncovered? Will patients be repaid? Will the prosecutors and WakeMed regularly report back to the judge? Is this deal in the public interest?
Even as the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC) continues to promote health information exchanges, the debate over the viability and usefulness of the current generation of HIES is heating up. "It's time to face the facts: Our nationwide network of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) is an unmitigated disaster," declared William Yasnoff, MD, PhD, president of the Health Record Banking Alliance, in a recent article in NHINWatch. John Loonsk, MD, chief medical officer of CGI Federal and a former high-ranking ONC official, also raised questions about the feasibility of HIEs in a recent Healthcare IT News piece.
Kendall Regional Medical Center lost one battle in the trauma wars Tuesday at the Miami-Dade County Commission, but has launched a new attack in Tallahassee, asking state regulators to reject a Jackson Health System request that Kendall maintains would force it to close its trauma center. Jackson has been complaining that its Ryder Trauma Center has been losing about $28 million a year since the state allowed Kendall Regional to open a second Dade trauma unit in November 2011. State regulators, meanwhile, have delayed granting licenses for trauma centers at Jackson North and Jackson South hospitals.