Featured Report: Health IT a new sweet spot for investors

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Modern Healthcare

Full D.C. appeals court expected to uphold ACA subsidies

Sept,04,2014

by: Paul Demko and Bob Herman 

The District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington on Thursday said the full 11-member court will rehear (PDF) the controversial case that ruled Americans could not receive subsidies to help pay for plans on federally run health insurance exchanges. Oral arguments will begin Dec. 17.

The court's decision to rehear the case en banc, which experts said is rare for the D.C. appellate court, vacates the judgment issued earlier this summer. On July 22, a three-judge panel ruled 2-1 in Halbig v. Burwell that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act forbade people with lower incomes from receiving tax subsidies from insurance marketplaces run by the federal government, effectively making those subsidies illegal in 36 states. Read More

Fierce EMR

Meaningful Use payments top $24.8 billion
Sept,02,2014
by: Marla Durben Hirsch

The Meaningful Use program has paid providers more than $24.8 billion in incentive payments since its inception, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' latest report.

The report, presented by Elisabeth Myers at CMS' Office of e-Standards and Services to ONC's Health IT Policy Committee on Sept. 3, stated that as of July 2014, there are 487,866 active registrants in the program and payments have amounted to $24,873,262,183. More than 92 percent of eligible hospitals have received payment under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, 90 percent of eligible professionals have registered for the program, and 75 percent of eligible professionals have made a financial commitment to implementing electronic health records. Read More

Fierce Health-Payer

Pharmacy group comes down on health plans

Sept,04,2014

by: Diana Manos

To provide for a smooth transition from coverage to care at the start of the 2015 plan year, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) urged the federal government to require that health plans provide nightly updates to patient eligibility files. This is just one of many actions the group wants health plans to take to help beneficiaries during the upcoming enrollment process. 

NACDS announced it wrote to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to "recommend administrative changes to facilitate a smooth start for new exchange enrollees seeking prescription drug coverage in the 2015 plan year."   Read More

Fierce Health IT

Health IT a new sweet spot for investors

Sept,04,2014

by: Dan Bowman

As use of electronic health records by providers and health tracking devices by consumers becomes more ubiquitous, the health IT industry is gaining a reputation as an emerging sweet spot for technology investors, according to a Reuters report.

Several investors, according to Reuters, said they see health IT as more of a safe bet than an industry like biotechnology. While success in the former industry is linked to services and data being sold to insurers and providers, the latter's success hinges on the unpredictable drug market, the article notes.  Read More

Healthcare Mobile POP

Healthcare Providers,

As you know Healthcare IT is changing every day especially in the new m-health field. Where mobile devices like iPhones, Smartphones and tablets becoming how doctors react to their patients and staff. But with this changes comes new laws about how mobility should be used to work with patient data in a secure way. This is where our mobile app called "Healthcare POP" can help Healthcare POP brings all of your healthcare info into one web-based app that can that can work on every mobile, tablet and desktop. For more information on Healthcare POP visit our demo website at http://www.wireheadtec.com/MobileApp.html