Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies.

Stewardship Health sale to private equity finalized for $245M
The physician group, once part of Steward Health Care, has been rebranded as Revere Medical.
Baxter producing IV solutions ahead of schedule at Asheville-area site
The company said its largest production line at its North Carolina plant is operational, accounting for 25% of total output. The site was damaged by flood waters from Hurricane Helene.
Hackers were inside an Iowa hospital’s network for two weeks
St. Anthony Regional Hospital confirmed patient data was taken by cybercriminals, but the August incident is still being investigated.
Bill introduced in Congress would raise physician reimbursement by 1.9%
The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act aims to change the annual Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services physician fee schedule, which cut reimbursement by 2.8% for 2025.
Good AI governance can spell the difference between smashing success and mere learning experience
Discussions of AI governance may cause many an eye to glass over, but the discipline is as crucial to the ascent of AI in healthcare as big training datasets drawn from diverse patient populations.

Organizations urge 90-day MU reporting period for 2016

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and 32 other organizations are asking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to shorten the Meaningful Use reporting period for 2016 from 365 to 90 days.

March 16, 2016

Cancer overtakes heart disease as leading cause of death in 22 U.S. states

Due to a sharp decrease in deaths resulting from cardiovascular disease, cancer has narrowed the gap and is challenging for the title of the nation’s number-one cause of mortality, according to research published online by the American Heart Association.

March 15, 2016

Cost controls: Healthcare industry on a dangerous collision course

Two long-standing approaches to keeping healthcare costs down are on a “collision course” that could leave them both ineffective, according to a recent opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine. Do we have time to course correct or are we left to simply buckle our seatbelts and brace for impact?  

March 15, 2016

5,500+ new, revised ICD-10 codes in the works for 2017

More than 5,500 diagnosis and procedures codes will be added to the ICD-10 coding system for fiscal year 2017.

March 14, 2016

AMA, other orgs call for rejection of Aetna/Humana merger

The American Medical Association (AMA) has joined forces with the Florida Medical Association and Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, and written a letter to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling on her to reject the proposed merger of Aetna and Humana.  

March 14, 2016

Proposed ACO benchmarks may penalize the orgs serving the sickest patients

An analysis from Harvard’s department of healthcare policy shows such wide variation in baseline spending levels from one ACO to the next that any future benchmarking efforts, including those performed within single given regions, must roll out parity measures only gradually—or pay the price in the form of participation falloffs.  

March 10, 2016

vRad Shares Success from Complex ICD-10 Transition of 2,100+ Client Healthcare Facilities

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — (March 7, 2016) vRad (Virtual Radiologic), an affiliate of MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE: MD) and the leading national teleradiology services and telemedicine company, today announced that it will showcase insights and best practices learned from a successful ICD-10 transition of 2,100+ client facilities during a live webinar on March 9, 2016 at 12:00 pm CT. 

March 7, 2016

White House-backed bill to help states track banned providers passes House

The Ensuring Removal of Terminated Providers from Medicaid and CHIP Act (HR 3716), which helps states identify healthcare providers who have been banned from Medicare, a Medicaid program, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, has been unanimously approved by the U.S. House.

March 3, 2016

Around the web

Cardiovascular Business

Q&A: Why are cardiovascular devices involved in so many recalls? FDA policies may be to blame

Cardiovascular devices are more likely to be in a Class I recall than any other device type. The FDA's approval process appears to be at least partially responsible, though the agency is working to make some serious changes. We spoke to a researcher who has been tracking these data for years to learn more.

Cardiovascular Business

Cardiologist compensation still rising, especially in invasive and interventional cardiology

Updated compensation data includes good news for multiple subspecialties. The new report also examines private equity's impact on employment models and how much male cardiologists earn compared to females.

Cardiovascular Business

FDA’s tirzepatide decision creates uncertainty for patients—and leads to a lawsuit

When drugs are on the FDA’s shortage list, outsourcing facilities can produce their own compounded versions. When the FDA removed tirzepatide from that list with no warning, it created a considerable amount of chaos both behind the scenes and in pharmacies all over the country.

Policy & Regulations

Stewardship Health sale to private equity finalized for $245M

Baxter producing IV solutions ahead of schedule at Asheville-area site

Hackers were inside an Iowa hospital’s network for two weeks

Bill introduced in Congress would raise physician reimbursement by 1.9%

Good AI governance can spell the difference between smashing success and mere learning experience

Around the web