Government & Policy
New rule brings flexibility, institutes two payment tracks, and makes 2017 a transition year.
New National Institutes of Health funding will go toward neural dust, autism, Alzheimer’s, stroke and brain-related conditions.
The National Institutes invests a new $5.5 million to start recruitment and build the infrastructure.
U.S. States are finding the need to stretch dollars as part of the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Such strategies include hiring private managed care companies, shifting long-term care services to community settings and restricting use of expensive prescription drugs.
The World Health Organization highlighted the upsides of taxing sugary drinks or unhealthy foods and, while healthier populations are an important part, the benefits also include increased government revenue and new jobs.
Electronic health records platforms are leaving doctors exposed by making it hard to demonstrate what they did and why. Some providers are even settling malpractice suits and not because of guilt. Hospitals cannot ignore the issue anymore.
Researchers said the price hikes driving big spending increases are inconsistent and while AHA president Rick Pollack said that any upticks because of market manipulation are just plain wrong.
Hospitals and provider organizations now have to manage business associates that might share data or access to it with overseas vendors. Experts say OCR won't pursue foreign companies after a breach. That means all risk remains on HIPAA-covered entities.
The Defense Department also said its massive modernization project will now rollout at one military site in the Pacific Northwest instead of the original two it had planned to use as pilot sites.
Wonder where Hillary Clinton, who could be the first woman to be elected U.S. president, stands on women’s issue. No need to wonder. Clinton, a known policy wonk, has a position paper for that.