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Congress


Obama appoints Berwick during congressional recess

Top Stories | Wednesday, July 07 2010
During the current congressional recess, President Barack Obama appointed Donald Berwick, MD, current president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, to fill the role of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator.
 

AGs power through DoJ's motion to dismiss reform lawsuit

Top Stories | Monday, June 21 2010
The federal government's lawsuit over the new healthcare reform bill evolved into a war of words last week when the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed its motion to dismiss the constitutional challenges against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act brought by 20 states, the National Federation of Independent Business and individuals affected by the mandate to adopt healthcare insurance.
 

CMS delays telemedicine requirements until March 2011

Top Stories | Wednesday, June 09 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed the Joint Commission’s requirement to implement CMS telemedicine standards for both general and critical access hospitals until March 2011.
 

Health Affairs: Healthcare reform package strikes a balance in price/scope

Industry News | Wednesday, June 09 2010
The only alternatives to the federal healthcare reform that would have covered more Americans at a lower cost to the federal government were politically untenable, and would have included substantially higher penalties for those who don't comply with mandates, lower government subsidies and less-generous Medicaid expansion, according to research published in the June edition of Health Affairs.
 

Report: HITECH course corrections needed immediately

Industry News | Wednesday, June 02 2010
"While efforts of the federal government, states and stakeholders to implement the HITECH Act are worthy of praise, there are course corrections that must currently be made to occur at both the legislative and regulatory levels," according to a report released by Manatt Health Solutions.
 

Obama Administration attempts to dismiss Virginia's reform suit

Top Stories | Wednesday, May 26 2010
Federal attorneys, acting on behalf of Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, filed a 39-page brief in the U.S. District Court of Richmond in Virginia this week, in an attempt to dismiss Virginia’s lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s healthcare reform law.
 

DoJ report uncovers healthcare fraud settlements, actions in 2009

Industry News | Monday, May 17 2010
According to the 13th annual Department of Justice (DoJ) Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program report for fiscal year 2009, the federal government won or negotiated approximately $1.63 billion in judgments and settlements and U.S. Attorneys' offices opened 1,014 new criminal healthcare fraud investigations involving 1,786 potential defendants.
 

CMS issues a 16% reversal in SPECT cuts to private practices, Lewin says

Top Stories | Friday, May 07 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
SAN DIEGO—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a 16 percent increase to SPECT nuclear imaging reimbursements, which was cut by 36 percent under the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, Jack Lewin, CEO of the American College of Cardiology, said in an interview. He also said the agency is committing to return payments back to Jan. 1, when the cuts took effect.
 

OCR proposes to expand PIMS in HITECH Act

Industry News | Friday, April 16 2010
The Office for Civil Right (OCR) in the Department of Health and Human Services, in accordance with the Privacy Act, has proposed to modify the Program Information Management System (PIMS), regarding its use of data from organizations concerning breaches of protected health information.
 

Congress delays Medicare payment cuts until June 1

Top Stories | Friday, April 16 2010
President Barack Obama signed into law the Continuing Extension Act of 2010, which delayed the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician pay...again.
 

Report: EMR market could double, if meaningful use standards relax

Industry News | Thursday, April 08 2010
Relaxing the meaningful use standards, as some physician organizations and members of Congress are urging the Department of Health and Human Services to do, would be a boon to the EMR industry, according to market research firm Kalorama Information. The report predicts the $13.8 billion market could, if properly driven by incentives, grow in double digits.
 

Five more states join AG suit against healthcare reform

Top Stories | Thursday, April 08 2010
Nevada, Arizona, Indiana, North Dakota and Mississippi have joined the 13 attorneys general (AG) who are party to the suit challenging the healthcare reform law, filed by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. Two of the state governors, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, have sidestepped their AGs to partake in the lawsuit.
 

HealthAffairs: With one year down, ARRA has a lot on the line

Industry News | Monday, April 05 2010
Now that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is one year old, it’s time to ask if the federal government has gotten IT right, according to an editorial in the April issue of HealthAffairs.
 

Wanted: Champions of family medicine for improved U.S. healthcare

Industry News | Thursday, April 01 2010
Family medicine needs influential, aggressive allies, according to a commentary by Mary Nolan Hall, MD, and Jerry Kruse, MD, along with the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, that was published in the January/February edition of Annals of Family Medicine.
 

CMS delays SGR payment cut, as it's set to take effect again

Industry News | Thursday, April 01 2010
A number of healthcare organizations are urging Congress to pass legislation to stop a 21 percent cut in physician payments for Medicare that is scheduled to go into effect today. Meanwhile, in a replay of the situation that took place a month ago, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has instructed contractors to hold Medicare claims for the first 10 business days in April in order to give Congress time to pass legislation.
 

14 state AGs file suit opposing healthcare reform bill

Top Stories | Wednesday, March 24 2010
Thirteen state attorneys general (AG) have jointly filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the healthcare reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama March 23 is unconstitutional. The Virginia AG has filed a separate lawsuit, due to specific state laws related to health insurance coverage.
 

ACR, RSNA, other rad societies comment on meaningful use

Top Stories | Wednesday, March 17 2010
The American College of Radiology (ACR), American Board of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America and the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine have submitted joint comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding proposed implementation of the Medicare/Medicaid program on meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
 

Senate votes to delay Medicare payment cut until Oct. 1

Top Stories | Thursday, March 11 2010
The U.S. Senate yesterday passed legislation that will delay the date of a 21.2 percent Medicare payment cut to physicians until Oct.1.
 

HIMSS: Business intelligence needs to drill down to data costs

Conference News | Tuesday, March 02 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
ATLANTA--Healthcare reform isn’t going to happen in the halls of Congress, but through improved data-driven quality throughout the U.S. healthcare system, said Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier, during an educational session Tuesday at HIMSS10.
 

ASRT announces 2010 radiologic science advocacy award winners

Awards | Monday, February 22 2010
The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Board of Directors has named Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga. and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. as this year’s recipients of the ASRT Award for Excellence in Radiologic Science Advocacy.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: Tort reform may curb non-indicated imaging

Physicians in states with medical liability tort reform laws ordered fewer imaging studies for emergency patients with mild-moderate head trauma, according to a study published July 13 in the online edition of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Beaconology for beginners: A chat with ONC's Aaron McKethan

The ability to transform healthcare delivery at the community level requires information and tools for both consumers and providers—not one or the other, said Aaron McKethan, program director for the Beacon Community Program under the Office for the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). McKethan discussed "Beaconology," an informal term used by ONC to describe the basics of the Beacon Program, in an exclusive interview yesterday.

Feature: Early a.m. rad shift expedites communication of urgent findings

An early morning radiologist shift can expedite the communication of urgent findings and improve patient care, according to a study in this month's Journal of the American College of Radiology. “The Joint Commission and the ACR have emphasized the importance of improved communication, particularly of critical test results, for better patient care,” Rathachai Kaewlai, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, shared with Health Imaging News.

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

SMU nets nearly $600K to study ultrasound in bone strength assessment

Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas has received a $596,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Neurological Disorders and Stroke Institute to study the role of ultrasound in determining the effects of radiation on bone.

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