Richard Pizzi

The biggest challenge in healthcare delivery is the fragmentation of the system and the clinical information gaps that result, according to Susan DeVore, president and CEO of the Premier healthcare alliance.

ICD-10 implementation and compliance issues associated with the HITECH Act are on the minds of medical billing companies, according to a speaker at the 2009 Fall National Conference of the Healthcare Billing and Management Association.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced it will provide additional resources and guidance on compliance with the "Red Flags" Rule and give creditors and financial institutions more time to implement written Identity Theft Prevention Programs. The FTC will delay enforcement of the Rule until November 1, 2009.

About 45,000 office-based physicians may be eligible for up to $63,750 in ARRA funding over six years to improve and maintain their health information technology systems because of their participation in Medicaid, according to a new study.

There are good reasons to believe that Congress will pass healthcare reform legislation in 2009, although some “dealbreakers” could derail the process.

There is a great deal of resistance to healthcare reform because industry players make so much money from the current system, said George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.

The "capital crunch" and the recession are severely restricting U.S. hospitals in obtaining funds to upgrade their facilities and invest in new clinical and information technologies, according to the American Hospital Association.