We have been told that our weekly feature, “Last Week’s Most Popular Story,” is a popular one. So, to close the year, we thought we would bring a whole issue in that theme. Below you will find links to the year’s most-read news articles, interviews and opinion pieces. First, some 2011 statistics: We ran 201 […]
If we were in a Disney movie, one might call this another symbol of the circle of life. This week, former McKesson Technology Solutions President Pamela Pure joined HealthMEDX, the company formed by the team that created MSI in the 1980’s and eventually sold it to hospital software vendor HBOC, which was later acquired by McKesson Corporation. Pure joins HealthMEDX as it takes on a growth investment infusion from Spectrum Equity Investors and Trident Capital.
Today is December 7, 2011. Seventy years ago, a violent attack permanently imprinted tragic images on the American consciousness. Seventy years and three months ago, PFC Joseph P. Rowan was discharged from the U.S. Army; his final post was Schofield Barracks, a few minutes’ drive from Pearl Harbor. My thoughts turn to my father every December 7, and every time I give thanks that he got out of there in time and, as he nears his 92nd birthday, every time I take my turn as his caregiver. These are those thoughts.
By Audrey Kinsella A patient we will call “Miss Devyn” was referred to home health services following knee replacement surgery. A case manager at Indian River Home Care, which serves Indian River County, Florida, assigned Devyn a remote telehealth monitor. Following company policy, the case manager set up the device to track her pain and […]
Attorney General Eric Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday that a nationwide takedown by Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in eight cities has resulted in charges against 91 defendants, including doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $295 million in false billing.
What technologies are in use by home health care providers today? How will technology shape the home health care industry over the next few years? What technologies are helping home health care providers compete now and remain competitive in the future? We asked you and you told us. Here is analyst and independent consultant Dione Chen’s summary of what you said.
For two years, we have been reporting that the giant collection agencies that won government contracts to recover Medicare overpayments were entirely focused on lucrative bounties available when they audit hospitals and large physician practices. That may be changing. Our periodic search for the word “home” on the web sites of the four collection agencies acting as Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) got a hit for the first time last week. In this article: we post the web sites of all four RACs
we identify each RAC’s covered states
we reprint the three newly approved audit issues that mention home care.
Recovery Audit Contractors are revealing early signs that they may soon take an interest in home care. What can we learn from the way they have been treating hospitals? A new survey indicates we can learn a lot. Nearly three quarters of hospitals believe the RAC program does reduce fraud and errors. At the same time, 60% of them find the audit process unfair. Most significant, nearly one quarter of them have had to hire additional staff to handle auditor documentation demands and short timelines.
Can health coaching delivered over a smart phone application help people with Type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar any better than traditional treatment methods? The University of Maryland School of Medicine has published a promising answer to that question, after following 163 patients for a year.
Three quarters of U.S. residents living in areas designated as rural are in the South and Midwest. In remote rural areas there are fewer physicians but more hospital beds per 100,000 people than in cities. Chronic conditions are more prevalent in rural communities and in urban and suburban areas. Telemedicine and telehealth have the potential to transform aspects of rural health care, improving accessibility, quality and affordability.
These are a few of the findings presented in a working paper from UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, which you can download in its entirety for free. This article summarizes more findings and conclusions like these.
