It is time to affirm that there is a public health duty to use surveillance data in new ways, for the sake of both populations and individuals, according to the authors of a perspective paper published Aug. 24 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) cited that while the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) considers a variety of factors when allocating its Medicare Integrity Program (MIP), the organization may consider the prior years funding level, the consequence of not funding and the performance goal that the activity is intended to meet based on GAOs review of CMS documents submitted to justify funding of specific MIP activities.

American physicians are again rushing to become employed by hospitals—and hospitals are responding in kind, says D. Louis Glaser, JD, partner with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Chicago, Illinois. "The trend is being driven by the uncertainty of the future," he says. "Physicians and hospitals are wondering how reimbursement is going to change,

Regardless of the form it takes, clinical integration of hospitals with physicians is not easy, with a range of obstacles—from logistics to philosophical differences—posing significant challenges. That's what two health care executives—Dan Wolterman, president and CEO of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston, Texas, and Alyson Pitman

Challenges to the traditional structure of physician economics were already creating a trend toward increased hospital-physician alignment when health care reform added a strong incentive in the form of support for accountable care organizations (ACOs).1 Greg Scrine, managing principal in GE Healthcare's Performance Solutions Integrated Healthcare

In a move to help address the impending U.S. transition to ICD-10, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American College of Medical Coding Specialists (ACMCS) have joined forces to present a two-day Clinical Coding Meeting, Oct. 1-2 in Salt Lake City, preceding the 2011 AHIMA Convention & Exhibit which runs through Oct. 6, also at the Salt Lake City Convention Center.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) will launch its accountable care organization (ACO) accreditation program this fall.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials recently learned that a staff member at the Lexington VA Medical Center, without authorization, took home patient files, slides, images and data on a laptop computer.