Morning Headlines 6/11/14
IBM announces that it will partner with Epic in the pending DoD EHR vendor search, naming IBM CMIO Keith Salzman, MD, MPH and 22-year Army doc, as project lead.
Intermedix Corporation Acquires T-System’s Physician Billing Division
T-System sells its ED billing solution to Intermedix, stating in a press release that it would focus its efforts on ED clinical and coding workflow.
Taxpayers Face Big Medicare Tab for Unusual Doctor Billings
The Wall Street Journal analyzes CMS payment data and finds that 2,300 physician practices earned $500,000 or more by repeatedly billing for a single procedure. One doctor in California billed Medicare $2.3 million for a non-invasive cardiac procedure that he describes as “exercise while lying on your back.” Though he is not a cardiologist, his practice performed the procedure more times than all of the cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic combined.
The Alliance for Connected Care writes a letter to incoming HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell asking that she use her authority to relax telehealth reimbursement regulations.
'Samantha Brown points out that, “Healthcare, like every other industry, gets caught up in the idolatry of the ‘innovators.’”' I…