By Tim Rowan In the wake of two breaking news items — the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently extended the deadline for providers to volunteer for ICD-10 end-to-end testing through May 22 (testing will occur July 20-24); and Representative Diane Black (R-TN) has introduced a bill that would spread ICD-10 implementation over 18 […]
Dear Tim: I am reading this morning’s Technology Report and have just one editorial comment. You make the statement about nurses using point-of-care systems, and improvements in these systems so that nurses (and therapists) don’t have to spend whole evenings completing the day’s paperwork. The real catch here is nurses doing the work at the […]
WASHINGTON – Friday, May 1, 2015 – It is raining bills on Capitol Hill with members in both the Senate and House introducing proposals to expand federal support for telemedicine. “Such action is unprecedented in the 22 years that ATA has been working with Congress,” said Jonathan Linkous, CEO of ATA. “These actions signify how […]
WASHINGTON – Monday, May 11, 2015 – The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has awarded its second Accreditation for Online Patient Consultations to HealthLinkNow, Inc., a fully-integrated online network of psychiatrists and therapists providing mental health services across multiple states. In its first five months of operation, nearly 300 organizations have registered for the ATA program. […]
By Tim Rowan Procura USA Holdings, Inc. announced on May 7 that it has named Christopher Junker as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Junker replaces Scott Overhill, CEO since April, 2014, who will remain with the company and shift back to his role as Chief Technology Officer. An experienced software CEO at high […]
When the twin pressures from government and private payers to shrink reimbursement rates and increase claims denials make it too difficult for some home health and home care providers to survive, Peter Miska’s Chicago agency will still be standing, and thriving. At last month’s “Healthcare in Transition” seminar, he spoke with our Tamela Buhrke about […]
By Tim Rowan At last week’s National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization leadership meeting, data analysts commissioned by the Hospice Action Network offered a second opinion on a CMS-commissioned report released recently by Abt Associates. More of a critique than a second opinion, the team from Avalere drew different conclusions than Abt had published and […]
Allscripts Releases Free Survival eBook Under the title “Thrive and grow in the face of today’s realities: A Survival Guide for Home Health and Hospice Agencies,” Allscripts has released a white paper lengthy enough to deserve the name “eBook.” A free copy can be downloaded by clicking on the Allscripts ad on the front page […]
By Tim Rowan Cornell Prescription Pharmacy has agreed to settle potential HIPAA Privacy Rule violations with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. Cornell will pay $125,000 and adopt a corrective action plan to correct deficiencies in its HIPAA compliance program. Cornell is a small, single-location pharmacy that provides in-store and […]
By Tim Rowan In a decade that will go down in history as the era of healthcare reform, continuing to do business as usual is a formula for failure. Operational and policy changes that can lead a home healthcare agency onto a survival path, on the other hand, sometimes is brought about only through the […]
