Providers

Optimal use of pharmaceuticals is often overlooked for accountable care organizations (ACOs), but ensuring proper medication use, efficacy, and safety is critical to an ACO's success.

Rules issued today will help CMS keep fraudulent providers and suppliers away from Medicare, following a series of crackdowns in "hot spots" around the country.

Employers and employees are seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to integrated health benefits. Not only do employees see how an integrated plan can improve quality of care and health, but employers see how it makes good business sense.

The deadline for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to attest to meeting meaningful use requirements has been pushed back a full month, according to CMS.

Clinicians are showing increased openness toward using digital technology and are becoming more comfortable with trusting tools like at-home test results, according to a new report from PwC's Health Research Institute.

At its third annual conference, Patient-Centered Oncology Care 2014, The American Journal of Managed Care addressed new challenges in cancer care: more patients have coverage, but they may be "underinsured" or barred from academic centers. Amid rising drug costs and regulations that threaten community practices, the head of the largest oncology organization outlined a path toward value-based reimbursement.

Peter Yu, MD, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, (ASCO) discussed the organization's efforts throughout 2014 to reform reimbursement and take on issues of value and quality in cancer care during Patient-Centered Oncology Care, the annual gathering sponsored by The American Journal of Managed Care.

People in healthcare are learners by nature, which should be put to use when developing tactics to gain care delivery efficiencies, said Jordan Asher, MD, chief medical and chief integration officer at MissionPoint Health Partners.

Panelists discussed the price of pharmaceuticals and controlling the cost of care at the 64th Annual Roy A. Bowers Pharmaceutical Conference: A Measured Approach-Health Care Delivery and Transformation in a Metric Driven World, held by Rutgers University.

The categorization of lung allograft dysfunction is changing, David Nunley, MD, clinical director of lung transplant at the University of Louisville Health Care Outpatient Center, said at the 2014 CHEST meeting in Austin, Texas.

Fear is the biggest barrier preventing providers from using social media to its fullest potential, according to Christopher Carroll, MD, social media editor at CHEST and research director for the Division of Critical Care at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center.

The toughest topics in cancer care will be on tap November 13-14, 2014, in Baltimore, Maryland, when AJMCLive presents Patient-Centered Oncology Care. If you've followed the discussion among pharmaceutical leaders, oncologists, and payers over access to care, you'll want to join stakeholders to discuss how to ensure patients get what they need while controlling costs.

Electronic health records could actually increase the physicians' bureaucratic burdens, which already consume one-sixth of their time, according to a study by City University of New York professors.

Providers and insurers across the country are partnering to launch narrow-network plans even as controversy continues over whether these plans offer adequate provider access for consumers.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology unveiled a draft for its 10-year plan for healthcare interoperability at a joint meeting on October 15.

Reference pricing programs can steer patients to lower-price, adequate quality providers, but potential savings to health plans and purchasers are actually modest, according to a study from the National Institute for Health Care Reform.

Health plans, providers, and consumers have to collaborate in order to bring value, Craig Thiele, MD, chief medical officer at CareSource, said at the America's Health Insurance Plans' National Conferences on Medicare and Medicaid, and Dual Eligibles Summit.

A new information governance framework of 8 principles from the American Health Information Management Association aims to help meet the patient care, safety, and operational goals of healthcare organizations.

Surabhi Dangi-Garimella, PhD, managing editor of The American Journal of Managed Care's Evidence-Based series led the panel of experts in a discussion on immuno-oncology by first talking about checkpoint inhibitors currently in the market and under development.

Healthcare providers have shown a lack of progress regarding ICD-10 readiness compared with a year ago, while vendors are mostly prepared, according to a new WEDI survey.

Patient experience and satisfaction is becoming an increasingly important aspect of providing healthcare, and a new roadmap outlines opportunities and key strategies to include patients and families in healthcare delivery.

Genetic and companion testing takes a village, according to Jan Berger, MD, MJ, president and chief executive officer of Health Intelligence Partners and editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits.

As part of National Health IT Week, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, outlined its 10-year vision to achieve interoperability for health IT.

In the wake of Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem's proposed merger, America's Health Insurance Plans is leading the charge to prevent this and similar mergers and acquisitions.

More than 1,000 health centers in every US state and territory will receive Affordable Care Act funds to expand their primary care services, according to an announcement from Health and Human Services' Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.