Category: Healthcare IT News

Emerging Opportunities And Risks With Telehealth In The Age Of COVID-19

Emerging Opportunities – And Risks – With Telehealth In The Age Of COVID-19

As is painfully obvious to even the most casual of observers, the COVID-19 public health emergency has been disruptive to all industries. And, the healthcare industry has been at the epicenter of this disruption. Nonetheless, not all disruption is negative. One bright spot for many healthcare practitioners during this public health crisis has been the […]
CMS Guidance for Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

CMS Guidance for Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided some guidance within the “Medicare and Medicaid Programs Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency” interim final rule (IFR), allowing for remote patient monitoring, or RPM. This type of patient care is very helpful for ongoing treatment during the COVID-19 […]
Telemedicine Reimbursement and Health Policy

Beyond the Pandemic: Telemedicine Reimbursement and Health Policy

Telemedicine reimbursement and other regulatory flexibilities enabled providers to quickly pivot operations for COVID-19, but temporary policies also poised the health policy landscape for significant change after the pandemic. In the wake of the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US, policymakers quickly relaxed long-standing healthcare regulations, including telemedicine reimbursement and healthcare fraud prevention […]
HHS Issues Requirements for Additional Data and Timely Submission of COVID-19 Testing

HHS Issues Requirements for Additional Data and Timely Submission of COVID-19 Testing

With concerns of COVID-19 having a disproportionate impact on certain individuals, such as minorities and the elderly, public health experts are requiring more detailed data, provided on a real-time basis – further supporting the reliability and integrity of data being central to healthcare. Though rates of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have somewhat stabilized, […]
Coronavirus Accelerates AI in Health Care

Coronavirus Accelerates AI in Health Care

  From predicting outbreaks to devising treatments, doctors are turning to AI in an effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Why it matters: While machine learning algorithms were already becoming a part of health care, COVID-19 is likely to accelerate their adoption. But lack of data and testing time could hinder their effectiveness — for this […]
IPPS Proposed Rule_ Proposes Increased Payment Rates

2021 IPPS Proposed Rule: CMS Proposes Increased Payment Rates

According to the proposed rule, CMS projects total Medicare spending on inpatient hospital services, including capital, will increase by about $2.07 billion in FY 2021. CMS’ fiscal year (FY) 2021 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule, released May 11, includes a proposed increase to hospital payment rates, the creation of a new Medicare-Severity Diagnosis-Related Group […]
COVID-19 Pandemic_ Medical Information Crisis

COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevent the Oncoming Medical Information Crisis

A case in point is the information infrastructure of the American healthcare system, which will play a critical role in understanding and battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as the capacity of some national health systems have been overwhelmed by the number of COVID-19 cases—most notably in Italy—healthcare providers and professionals in the U.S. run the risk […]
Non-essential Surgery Guidelines

COVID-19 Causes CMS to Issue Non-essential Surgery Guidelines

CMS wants all providers to cancel or postpone all low-acuity surgeries. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is limiting “all non-essential planned surgeries and procedures, including dental, until further notice,” according to statement the agency released March 18. This measure is designed to have a twofold effect: increase the amount of ventilators and […]
Artificial Intelligence Can Make U.S. Healthcare

How Artificial Intelligence Can Make U.S. Healthcare More Efficient

For the past several decades, patients, providers, and payers have lamented the health of the U.S. healthcare system. Just this past fall, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, estimated that close to 30% of healthcare spending in the U.S. “may be considered waste.”1 Over these same several decades, an important technology — artificial intelligence […]