NEW ORLEANSThe cardiology profession seems to suffer from a collective case of magical thinking, offered Charles McKay, MD, of the University of California - Los Angeles. Symptoms include a sense that quality measurement is not real, an insistence that decision support is unnecessary and a belief that hospitals dont care about quality. Researchers shared data from five outcome studies that addressed these sacred cows, during a presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). (The first three studies are profiled below, and the additional two will be featured next week.)

Small practices--those with fewer than 10 physicians--have some familiar concerns when it comes to the conversion to HIPAA Version 5010, which must be completed by Jan. 1, 2012. Those concerns are resources, time and money, according to Jackie Griffin, manager of the revenue cycle management company Gateway EDI in St. Louis, Mo.

The Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP) has launched a new initiative to provide the public, media and policymakers with resources and information about the value of care coordination and accountable care to national healthcare reform.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its long-awaited Proposed Rule for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), which would provide the regulatory framework for these organizations.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took a major step toward establishing accountable care organizations (ACOs) by issuing a notice of proposed rule-making that will define how physicians, hospitals and others can adopt this new organization form, wrote Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in a perspective paper published March 31 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted new frequently asked questions (FAQs) concerning the latest information on the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

Wayne Memorial Hospital, a 316-bed health care facility serving Goldsboro, N.C., is implementing Ingenixs computer-assisted coding (CAC) tools to increase medical coding accuracy and compliance.

The Medical Center of Plano, a 427-bed acute care facility in Plano, Texas, has selected Wolters Kluwer Healths ProVation MD software for gastroenterology procedure documentation and coding.