Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Providers Get More Time To Meet Electronic Records Deadline
Amid complaints that doctors are facing a "regulatory tsunami," the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will ease certain deadlines regarding electronic health records. CMS on Wednesday said the deadline for doctors and certain other providers of health care to attest that their medical records systems meet meaningful use standards has been pushed to March 20 from Feb. 28. Physicians who accept Medicare payments must undergo certification every year to receive incentive money and avoid reductions in payments. (Young, 2/25)
A test run indicates that a new electronic billing system for health services can be implemented in the United States, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday, even as some doctors continued to push for relief from an October deadline for implementing the co-called ICD-10 codes. About 660 providers, billing agencies and equipment suppliers submitted almost 15,000 test claims using the ICD-10 codes between Jan. 26 and Feb. 3, CMS said. (Young, 2/25)
The CMS has either identified or prevented more than $210.7 million in healthcare fraud in one year using predictive analytics. But critics want to see the agency do much more with its new digital tools. Work done in detecting credit card fraud points the way to the possibility of greater savings in healthcare from predictive analytics. But stumbling blocks remain, including the greater complexity of healthcare data compared with simpler credit card transaction data, analytics experts caution. (Tahir, 2/25)
And technology and training are reducing nurses' injuries at VA hospitals -
Bernard Valencia's room in the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif., illustrates how hospitals across the country could fight a nationwide epidemic. As soon as you enter the room, you can see one of the main strategies: A hook hangs from a metal track that runs across the ceiling. This isn't some bizarre way of fighting hospital-acquired infections or preventing the staff from getting needle sticks. The contraption is a ceiling hoist designed to lift and move patients with a motor instead of muscle. (Zwerdling, 2/25)
