The Accountable Care Act is fueling positive changes in healthcare, as it pushes the industry toward EHRs, analytics and preventative care. This movement is improving patients’ health and care delivery while lowering costs, former Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, MD, MSc, wrote in an editorial in the New York Times.

The cost of the federal health insurance exchange’s portal is now estimated to be more than $2 billion, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Government, reports The Hill. 

HORSHAM, Pa.--NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today it has teamed with 3M Health Information Systems to offer 3M’s robust, web-based ICD-10 Education Program industry wide. The agreement strengthens the arsenal of resources NextGen Healthcare makes available to aid both clients and non-clients as they successfully transition to ICD-10.

Dislike the Open Payments regulations (also known as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act) that are part of the Affordable Care Act? In a blog post for Health Affairs, Anita Griner, deputy director of the Data Sharing and Partnership Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Center for Program Integrity, explains why the regulations are a good idea and the burden they may create on physicians and manufacturers is likely overstated.

Reston, VA, February 10, 2014 -- The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) in partnership with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Cooperative Exchange and other private industry partners, today announced the launch of its ICD-10 Success Initiative webinar series. The purpose of these webinars is to help health IT stakeholders meet the October 1 ICD-10 compliance deadline and to provide answers to common questions.

The government's release of first-year cost-savings results for its accountable care organization (ACO) project and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center delivery system reform pilot projects have drawn criticism from both the New York Times and the Washington Post, which published articles pointing out the problems with drawing conclusions from studies that are not true randomized controlled trials. In short, correlation is not causation, and the early results, while interesting, are not the same as proof that ACOs and new reimbursement methods like bundled payments actually deliver better care more cheaply. In a commentary, Bloomberg News summarized the controversy.

Meditab Software Inc., known for its award-winning Intelligent Medical Software (IMS) integrated EHR, practice management, patient portal and reporting solutions, is guaranteeing that IMS will be ICD-10 ready by February 15, 2014, and they are backing that guarantee up with a money-back policy.

AHIMA CONFERENCE--Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced a significant enhancement to its Clintegrity 360 platform that integrates clinical documentation improvement (CDI) and computer-assisted coding (CAC) into one seamless process. This single, web-based solution creates a natural and efficient way for clinicians to create more complete and accurate clinical documentation, while supporting downstream revenue cycle and quality reporting processes. Nuance Clintegrity 360 will be demonstrated in booth #1226 at the 2013 American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Convention & Exhibits October 27 – 30.