Search Results for "August 2008"

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Caterpillar uses data to manage employee health

 Patty Enrado July 30, 2008
PEORIA, IL – Since 2002, Caterpillar has kept its medical inflation rate to below 2 percent while recently reporting positive employee health outcomes.The global manufacturer’s su...
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Hawaiians say 'Aloha' to online care

 Patty Enrado July 23, 2008
HONOLULU – Both members of the Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and non-members will be able to access online care services through Amer...
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Medical cost trends to remain flat in '09

 Patty Enrado July 23, 2008
According to a recent report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute, medical cost trends in the private sector will drop from 9.9 percent in 2008 to 9.6 p...
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Payers remain reluctant to endorse bariatric surgery

 Patty Enrado July 23, 2008
TAMPA, FL – According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated $75 billion in direct medical expenditures was attributable to obesity in 2003, and annual hospital costs related to overwe...
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Payers News Briefs

 Healthcare Finance News Staff July 23, 2008
Survey: IT-based data can help cut down costsA recent survey shows that patients, doctors and other healthcare constituents agree that more shared information and aligned incentive program...
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America dials into healthcare

 Healthcare Finance News Staff July 23, 2008
The push to make healthcare more consumer-friendly has reached into yet another staple of everyday life: The cell phone.The development of Apple’s new iPhone, whose 3G version was laun...
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MEDecision chief eyes success with HCSC

 Healthcare Finance News Staff July 23, 2008
WAYNE, PA – The way David St. Clair sees it, MEDecision’s merger agreement with the Health Care Service Corporation, announced in June, couldn’t have come at a better time.T...
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Healthvision to acquire MediSolution subsidiary

 Healthcare Finance News Staff July 23, 2008
DALLAS – Healthvision is setting its sights on the Canadian market with the acquisition of MediSolution, Ltd.’s healthcare unit.In a deal announced July 16, the Dallas-based provi...
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Benefitfocus debuts 'Video-as-a-Service'

 Healthcare Finance News Staff July 23, 2008
CHARLESTON, SC – A well-known provider of IT solutions for the healthcare benefits market is betting that a message can be delivered much more effectively with pictures, rather than text....
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Solutions and Services News Briefs

 Healthcare Finance News Staff July 23, 2008
Executive search firms form strategic allianceTwo of the nation’s leading healthcare executive search firms have formed a strategic alliance. CES Partners Ltd. and Hersher Associates...
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Providers are looking for new ways to save money

 Patty Enrado July 23, 2008
PROVIDERS are facing greater pressure to streamline their operations, according to Paul Pitcher, director of financial systems at KLAS. There is an ever-increasing focus on such areas as denials ma...
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IRS eyes transparency in executive compensation

 John Andrews July 23, 2008
Proper maintenance of records, complete reporting on forms and strict adherence to regulations should keep not-for-profit hospitals in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service over executive co...
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Industry News Briefs

 Healthcare Finance News Staff July 22, 2008
Report: CMS needs better oversight of programsThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services needs to do a better job monitoring the billions of dollars it provides in supplemental payme...
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CMS proposes rules for outpatient, ambulatory surgery center rates

 Fred Bazzoli July 22, 2008
THE CENTERS for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a massive proposed rule to update its approach for paying for hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgery center services.Under the r...
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Humming along in a battle of the plans

 Fred Bazzoli July 22, 2008
I’VE GOT SOME ‘60s music blaring in the background as I write this. I’m having a nostalgia moment.For a brief spell in mid-July, I was having flashbacks to my youth in Chica...
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A strategy to prepare for payment reform

 Joseph C. Kvedar July 22, 2008
Most health economists would agree with the truism that about 5 percent of patients in a given populations account for about 50 percent of costs. There are a number of variations on this hyperbolic Pa...
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A dentist offers his view on the NPI deadline issue

 Darrell Pruitt July 22, 2008
I found your article “Mixed results as NPI deadline passes” informative.I have a unique perspective of the NPI issue.  As a dentist who has no contracts with any insurance compa...
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Record copying bill raises concerns

 Fred Bazzoli July 22, 2008
NEW YORK – Pending legislation in New York is raising concerns among hospital organizations, some of which fear the laws may increase hospitals’ liability for the expenses of duplicating m...
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Florida begins to track preventable readmissions

 Fred Bazzoli July 22, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Florida hospitals will be facing more public scrutiny as the state becomes the first in the country to publish data on readmissions that could be potentially prevented....
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Ronald Reagan Medical Center is open for business

 Molly Merrill July 22, 2008
The new $829 million Ronald Reagan Medical Center opened its doors last month, culminating years of construction and planning.The 1-million-square-foot building contains 520 beds and includes...
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