Recovery Room 12/5/11
In our recovery room posts we highlight events and news that have happened and didn’t report but still think are interesting.
Will Medicare’s Demonstration Project program help us decide how physician’s get paid in the future? Three new projects will launch in January targeting factors leading to improper payments. Here is a summary of the projects from Nurse.com. The AMA gave us some history and statistic on Medicare Demonstration Projects. Are they “well-suited to the payment reform issue”? Here is what they say.
InformationWeek is reporting Health insurance provider Capital District Physicians Health Plan (CDPHP), a NY health insurer, is offering $1 million to help 800 of their network specialist to implement EHRs and connect to the NY HIE (HIXNY). The company has already invested $10 million helping their providers with electronic medical records and interoperability. Read the article, Insurer’s Dollars Push Specialists Onto EHR Highway.
There has been a lot of buzz around the resignation of CMS Administrator Don Berwick. His last day was on Thursday and the NY Times reported on his interview and parting words. Most noted was his comment on how he sees the future. “We are a nation headed for justice, for fairness and justice in access to care. We are a nation headed for much more healing and much safer care. There is a moon shot here. But somehow we have not put together that story in a way that’s compelling.” Hailing from Boston, Berwick’s home town paper the Globe thinks their city and academics are getting a raw deal. Read this recent editorial, Senate GOP scapegoats another local academic. And in his short 17 months on the job what did he do? Kaiser Health News weighs in on his Top Five Accomplishments.
Have a good week.