HIMSS News
6/27/2008 - The Senate failed to pass the time-sensitive Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331), which is legislation to protect physicians from Medicare payment cuts. With lack of passage, all providers as of July 1st will experience a 10.6 percent cut in payments for services to Medicare beneficiaries. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered a 30-day extension of the current reimbursement rates, which Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) rejected as part of a "political game" by Republicans. Senate Democrats' efforts to get cloture on the legislation fell just one vote short, 58-40.
7/1/2008 - The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) announced the creation of the Indiana Flood Victims eHealth Support Center (1-877-788-5888) as a part of the relief effort for disaster victims across the state. This support center will provide doctors with medical information of flood victims, to the extent obtainable, for treatment purposes. FSSA is leading the effort between the Regenstrief Institute, Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), who is handling the calls, and Electronic Data Systems (EDS).
7/1/2008 - AT&T Inc.'s first statewide health information exchange, established in Tennessee, will be expanded to the entire country, AT&T said Monday. The electronic health network has been in development by San Antonio, Texas-based AT&T, since the beginning of the year, in partnership with Memphis-based MidSouth eHealth Alliance and the Governor's eHealth Council. The purpose was to deploy broadband connectivity for the state's healthcare professionals.
7/1/2008 - Twenty healthcare organizations in Southeastern Ohio have formed the Appalachian Health Information Exchange (AHIE) to facilitate the coordination of health information technologies—such as electronic record keeping and the electronic exchange of medical information—among regional providers.
7/1/2008 - CMS has recommended that practices take the following steps during the 10 business-day hold on Medicare claims processing.
7/1/2008 - Senate Democrats took aim at the Bush administration's plans for implementing a Medicare physician reimbursement cut, arguing that delays in instituting the reimbursement rate cut — offered by the administration over the weekend — are already allowed for by law.
7/1/2008 - The Medicare program will not process any physician and associated non-physician practitioner claims for the first 10 business days of July, according to a notification sent late June 27 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to Congress. CMS also on June 30 issued a proposed rule to set physician payment and reporting rules for calendar year 2009.
7/1/2008 - IRIS, the organizational network of Brussels’ 5 public hospitals, and dbMotion announced the agreement for a major project to provide an interoperability platform for medical information sharing to the Brussels region. The dbMotion™ Solution’s flexible platform meets the needs of IRIS’ clinicians for a portal enabling secure access to integrated patient information across its 11 sites. The result of having the patient’s fully integrated medical record available to the clinician at the point of care will be to improve safety and provide better, quality care.
