The Consumer Partnership for eHealth (CPeH), a nationwide coalition of more than 50 consumer, patient and labor organizations, released a plan addressing disparities in Stage 3 of the EHR incentive program.

Springfield, MO, July 03, 2013-- TrustHCS announced the launch of a new coder academy designed to prepare coding professionals of various levels and new, novice entrants to the field. The TrustHCS Academy brings the strength of three companies together to meet the nationwide increase in coding demand associated with ICD-10. TrustHCS coding educators prepare new students and seasoned coding professionals to enter the field and by increasing their knowledge and related ICD-10 skills. Career Step delivers proven, on-line curriculum, and HIM Connections places trained and certified students—a critical component of the program’s launch. The announcement was made by Torrey Barnhouse, President, TrustHCS.

Contrary to some perceptions that immigrants drain money from government programs, when it comes to Medicare, immigrants are in fact contributing billions of dollars more than they use, according to a Health Affairs study set to appear in the June issue.

SAN FRANCISCO -- CareCloud, a leading provider of cloud-based practice management, electronic health records (EHR), and medical billing software and services, and QuantiaMD, the largest social learning and collaboration platform serving more than 170,000 validated physician members, today announced the findings of the first Practice Profitability Index (PPI). The announcement took place at the inaugural HealthBeat 2013 Conference, sponsored by VentureBeat in San Francisco. The PPI was created and launched as part of a partnership between the two companies and was designed to provide a voice to US physician practices regarding issues impacting the financial and operational health of their practices.

PORTLAND, Ore., May 1, 2013 -- Health care reform has resulted in some of the largest scale changes to the way health care is delivered and funded since the 1960s, providing unprecedented access, coverage and protections for American consumers. To help people better understand the variety of choices before them, Regence has launched a new website that is designed to help consumers and businesses navigate the new health care landscape.

Health spending has been growing at historically low levels in recent years. The Office of the Actuary (OACT) in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports that national health spending grew by 3.9 percent each year from 2009 to 2011, the lowest rate of growth since the federal government began keeping such statistics in 1960. Estimates from the Center for Sustainable Health Spending at the Altarum Institute suggest that the slowdown largely continued into 2012, with health spending growing by 4.3 percent last year. The Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust Employer Health Benefits Survey shows similar moderation, with premiums in employer-sponsored health plans increasing by 4 percent in 2012.

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2013 -- The Health Coalition on Liability and Access today endorsed legislation introduced in the House of Representatives that will curb medical lawsuit abuse and help ensure continued patient access to care.The Standard of Care Protection Act (H.R. 1473), a bipartisan bill introduced by Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) and Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX), is the first piece of legislation in the House of Representatives in the 113th Congress to address our nation's broken liability system.  It ensures that no provisions of federal health care law may be inappropriately used to create new threats for medical liability litigation in the United States.

CAMDEN, N.J., April 10, 2013 -- In a highly innovative move, unprecedented in New Jersey, a health insurer and a hospital system -- AmeriHealth New Jersey and Cooper University Health Care -- announce today that Cooper will acquire a 20 percent interest in AmeriHealth New Jersey. This venture intends to transform health care in the state by increasing quality and lowering costs through a more highly coordinated care model.