The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its final rule officially setting the ICD-10 transition date for October 1, 2015. Asserting that the new date “allows ample time” for the healthcare industry to prepare for the change, the final rule confirms what the agency told the industry in May after the one-year delay was voted through as part of [...]
A New York radiology practice has informed 97,000 patients that an employee had unauthorized access to their protected health information. The employee radiologist of NRAD Medical Associates accessed and acquired the information from NRAD’s billing systems; these data included patient names and addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and health insurance, diagnosis codes and [...]
The Food and Drug Administration has released guidance to manufacturers for submissions to its Global Unique Device Identification Database (GUDID). Read more here.
GE Healthcare said it will supply generators for the production of sodium pertechnetate technetium-99m (Tc-99m) injection to its U.S. radiopharmacies, effective June 1. Read more here.
The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and four other federal agencies have failed to meet incremental development requirements for their IT projects, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Read more here.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late Wednesday issued a proposed rule for 2015 that reduces payment for readmissions and hospital-acquired conditions, but provides no changes to the controversial two-midnight rule. Read more here.
Medicare code bundling of CT of the abdomen and pelvis results in a large reduction in reimbursements for imaging, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology . Read more here.
A Medicare panel determined that there is not enough evidence to justify annual CT scans to detect early lung cancer in heavy smokers. The CMS's nine-member Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee voted Wednesday against paying for the screening tool. Read more here.
Although one of the main goals of the Meaningful Use program is to improve the quality of care, there appears to be "no association" between being a "meaningful user" of electronic health records and the quality of care provided to patients, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Read more here.
While lauding the Health eDecisions project for its work to set standards to support clinical decision support (CDS), a Health IT Buzz post announces a new initiative called the Clinical Quality Framework (CQF). This new project from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will focus on "harmonizing" the standards for clinical decision support and electronic clinical quality measurement. [...]