Following up on Thursday's post about anti-trust issues, the AMA News confirms that
Hospitals are merging or being bought and sold at an increasing rate, according to recent reports. Data released Feb. 28 by Irving Levin Associates indicated that 86 hospital merger or acquisition deals were done in 2011, the highest number in the past decade. Seventy-five happened in 2010 and 51 occurred in 2009. A report issued March 8 by Moody’s Investors Service said these trends will continue but did not predict how many mergers would take place.
The fee is expected to generate $2.6 billion in revenues through 2019. Here's the rub reported by LifeHealth Pro
To dispel fears that the "comparative effectiveness research" (CER) institute will be a care rationing "death panel," PCORI is supposed to influence health care solely by publishing its findings and letting physicians and hospitals decide for themselves how to use the information. Insurers are not supposed to use PCORI's work as the basis for making specific coverage decisions.The PCORI Executive Director quoted a Board of Governors member as follows:
“Ultimately, we’re going to be listening to a lot of stakeholders but our true North is going to be … patients and their caregivers … for whom the consequences of a [health care] decision is the greatest,” he said. “Help us frame a new way of thinking about how the health care system ought to operate.”Time will tell the PCORI's value.
Privacy officials for HIPAA covered entities and health plans must read this AIS interview with the HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Leon Rodriguez. OCR is responsible for enforcing the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. The article begins with the chilling sentence -- "The $1.5 million settlement that the Office for Civil Rights recently reached with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee heralds a new era of “monetary enforcement” by the agency, in contrast to its long-standing approach of what OCR Director Leon Rodriguez termed 'hand-holding.'” Bear in mind here that BCBST was a crime victim in this situation but that did not stop the government from imposing the sanctions for inadequate security. The times they are a changin.
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