CHIME: Don’t Tie Metadata to Meaningful Use
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives is counseling federal health information technology policy makers to go slowly and not tie the use of metadata tagging to future meaningful-use criteria for electronic health-record incentive payments.
E-Prescribing Threshold Too Low To Reduce Deaths
Higher requirements for Meaningful Use could decrease heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia mortality, say researchers, but hospital executives remain skeptical.
Registered Providers for EHR Incentives Surpass 90K Mark
Nearly 91,000 eligible professionals and hospitals have signed up to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record incentive programs so far in 2011, with 13,099 providers registered for the programs in August alone, a 30 percent jump from July.
Dialysis Patients, Caregivers Want More Time with Providers
Nearly 50 percent of dialysis patients and their caregivers said their healthcare providers have less time for them now than in the past, according to a survey conducted by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). They would like to spend more time discussing their lab goals and progress with their healthcare team than they currently do.
Two days off may be too long for dialysis patients
People undergoing kidney dialysis often have three treatments a week — which means they have a two-day-off break each week. But a new study suggests this regimen may be too risky for people with end-stage kidney disease.
CMS Chief Seeks Cost Control Through Better Quality
Dr. Berwick, CMS administrator, is looking for savings by making health care smarter and more efficient, but a study cites high physician pay in the U.S. relative to other countries as a significant driver of spending in the system.
Companies Steering Workers To Lower Priced Medical Care
Human resources departments have begun rolling out plans that sets limits on how much the company will pay toward a range of tests and procedures for their employees—and hope to send providers a message about what is considered a reasonable price for medical services.
Burgess, Kind Introduce Legislation to Protect Kidney Transplant Recipients
This week two U.S. congressmen introduced the Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act, allowing individuals who are eligible for immunosuppressive drugs under Medicare Part B to continue to receive their vital treatment past the 36-month cutoff.
Better Donor Testing Advised for Transplants
Federal health officials this week issued proposed guidelines calling for more thorough organ donor screening and use of better laboratory testing to prevent spreading infections during transplants.
Changes in Controversial Organ Donation Method Stir Fears
Surgeons retrieving organs for transplant just after a donor’s heart stops beating would no longer have to wait at least two minutes to be sure the heart doesn’t spontaneously start beating again under new rules being considered by the group that coordinates organ allocation in the United States.
Bone Enzyme Linked to Greater Short-Term Mortality in Dialysis Patients
High levels of bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP) are associated with increased short-term mortality among dialysis patients, a finding that underscores the important impact of bone turnover in this population.
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