The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) doubts the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ability to oversee the Meaningful Use (MU) program and offered recommendations to strengthen the program’s integrity in a November report.

Many hospitals are making strides toward safer environments for their patients, but errors and infections persist as top safety concerns, according to an update to the Hospital Safety Score published by the Leapfrog Group.

When storms like Hurricane Sandy hit, the Federal Emergency Management Agency assumes the center stage in disaster relief, but it’s not the only federal agency providing emergency support. When natural disasters strike, the FDA works behind the scenes to address the harmful effects.

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems has partnered with Aviacode, a Salt Lake City developer of technology-enabled medical coding services, to provide cloud-delivered medical coding services to NextGen's clients.

FICO, a Minneapolis-based developer of analytics and decision management technology, has acquired CR Software, a developer of enterprise collections and recovery technologies for credit issuers, government organizations, collection agencies, retailers and healthcare providers.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has taken advantage of its resources to launch the Million Veterans Program, a “mega-database” that will hold genomic and clinical information for future studies about veterans who receive their care from the VA and who volunteer to participate in the program.

State prescription drug monitoring programs can help reduce prescription drug abuse but there is room for improvement, according to a report prepared by MITRE for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

As expected, the Obama administration moved forward to implement provisions in the healthcare reform law that would make it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions. The provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) also would make it easier for consumers to compare health plans and employers to promote and encourage employee wellness.