Latest News

One week of ICD-10: 9 leaders share how they fared

By Akanksha Jayanthi for Becker’s Health IT & CIO Review After three delays and much industry opposition, the United States’ healthcare industry transitioned Oct. 1 to ICD-10, catching up with the latest version of the international classification of diseases codes. The transition has been compared to the Y2K scare at the turn of the millennium,…

Read MoreOne week of ICD-10: 9 leaders share how they fared

Yelp can help: Rating access to electronic medical records will hold hospitals accountable

By Niam Yaraghi for Brookings While patients may hugely benefit from having access to their own medical records, many hospitals and physicians are still very reluctant to provide patients with a copy of their records. Although taxpayers have partly paid for the majority of hospitals to adopt electronic health records systems, which reduce the cost…

Read MoreYelp can help: Rating access to electronic medical records will hold hospitals accountable

Hiring woes persist as ICD-10 coders tough to find

by David Weldon for Healthcare It News For them, the best hope at this point is to bring in an outside firm to handle the effort, experts say. After a number of delays, and much anticipation, the implementation of ICD-10 is finally underway as of Oct. 1. But with all the competition in the job market…

Read MoreHiring woes persist as ICD-10 coders tough to find

The forces behind data breaches: A look inside the minds of cybercriminals

By Carrie Pallardy for Health IT & CIO Review Data breaches are costly events – with an average price tag of $3.8 million each according to a Ponemon Institute report – and healthcare is a prime target. The bulk of data breach media coverage focuses on the aftermath – the cost and pursuant lawsuits –…

Read MoreThe forces behind data breaches: A look inside the minds of cybercriminals

Ex-hospital CFO charged with grand theft turns herself in

By Ayla Ellison for Becker’s Hospital Review Standpoint, Idaho-based Bonner General Health’s former CFO, Norilina Harvel, who is accused of embezzling approximately $225,000 from the hospital, turned herself in for arrest on Tuesday, according to a Bonner County Daily Bee report. Ms. Harvel was employed at BGH for 15 years —10 of which she served…

Read MoreEx-hospital CFO charged with grand theft turns herself in

ICD-10 hops Congressional hurdle

By Tom Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, for Healthcare IT News Congress will have just 17 week days to pass legislation killing the conversion. Is ICD-10 finally in the clear? Health IT professionals and policy wonks sleeping with one eye open while watching Capitol Hill for clues about ICD-10’s fate can rest easy – at least for now.…

Read MoreICD-10 hops Congressional hurdle

CFO Gets Prison Time for HITECH Fraud

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee for Healthcare Info Security Hospital Executive Falsified ‘Meaningful Use’ Attestation A former Texas hospital CFO has been sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for submitting false documents so a medical center could receive payments under the HITECH Act electronic health records financial incentive program. In addition to his prison sentence,…

Read MoreCFO Gets Prison Time for HITECH Fraud

Half Of Nation’s Hospitals Fail Again To Escape Medicare’s Readmission Penalties

By Jordan Rau for Kaiser Health News Once again, the majority of the nation’s hospitals are being penalized by Medicare for having patients frequently return within a month of discharge — this time losing a combined $420 million, government records show. In the fourth year of federal readmission penalties, 2,592 hospitals will receive lower payments…

Read MoreHalf Of Nation’s Hospitals Fail Again To Escape Medicare’s Readmission Penalties

Russian hackers hit DoD: PHI at risk?

Tom Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Healthcare IT News We saw with the Sony hack that when attackers find health data they’re likely to steal it The Pentagon confirmed late Thursday that Russian hackers penetrated the Defense Department’s IT networks and gained access to Joint Chiefs of Staff email servers. As has become the norm for government and…

Read MoreRussian hackers hit DoD: PHI at risk?

Washington Debrief: Flex-IT Bill Makes Series of Meaningful Use Program Changes

By Leslie Kriegstein, Interim Vice President of Public Policy, CHIME for Healthcare Informatics Congressional Affairs Flex-IT Bill Makes Series of Meaningful Use Program Changes Key Takeaway: Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) introduced legislation last week that makes a series of substantial improvements to the Meaningful Use Program, including a delay in the release Stage 3 rules.…

Read MoreWashington Debrief: Flex-IT Bill Makes Series of Meaningful Use Program Changes