By: Sara Rosenbaum Despite its monumental achievement, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), like any landmark piece of legislation, was only the beginning. Its aim was grand, but even putting aside the wild circumstances of its enactment, it was evident that effective…
During the last 140 years St. Joseph’s Hospital has grown from a ramshackle, 12-room building to the technologically advanced 330-bed medical center of today. “On this day we recognize not only one of the oldest hospitals in the nation, but…
Year Two of the ACA Coverage Expansions: On-the-Ground Experiences from Five States As of Spring 2015, states had completed the second open enrollment period for the new Health Insurance Marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and most of…
Humana has posted a policy/coding update that will take effect on 9/14/2015: http://apps.humana.com/marketing/documents.asp?file=2642614 Unless otherwise noted below, these updates will be applicable across all of Humana’s product lines (commercial & Medicare): Humana addresses maximum dosages/acceptable diagnosis codes for several drugs…
Survey: Healthcare Finance, Reform Top Issues Confronting Hospitals in 2014 CHICAGO, January 12, 2015—Financial challenges again ranked No. 1 on the list of hospital CEOs’ top concerns in 2014, according to the American College of Healthcare Executives’ annual survey of…
The 340B drug discount program is currently under consideration for changes that will affect hospitals and physicians alike. Hospitals typically would like to keep the program how it is, while physicians are striving for reform. The drug discount program has been giving…
Recently, physicians and physician advocates have pressed for legislation allowing an ICD-10 Grace Period that has been introduced as HR 2652 Bill. Specifically, “In carrying out regulations providing for the replacement of ICD–9 with ICD–10 as a standard for code…
While change is sweeping across healthcare, there is a need of first-class physician leaders. In order to effectively support clinical integration, there needs to be mutual support and trust between physicians and hospitals. Another key issue for leaders to consider…
Congress has finally passed legislation to permanently repeal the SGR formula that was being used to calculate the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). After years of temporary patches to the SGR to prevent double digit cuts to the Medicare physician…
Rural hospitals in Georgia have received a much needed boost through the newly passed funding for the hub and spoke model. There will be four hospitals designated as hubs statewide in this pilot project: Union General, Appling Health System, Crisp Regional…