News From Around the Web
> The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a reminder that 2015 program year attestation for the Medicare Meaningful Use program begins on Jan. 4, 2015. Attestations will be accepted through Feb. 29, 2016. CMS has also updated the electronic health record incentive program attestation batch upload page specifications for 2015 reporting year attestation. Website
> The American Academy of Family Physicians has created a new guide to help family physicians participate and succeed in the Meaningful Use program. The publicly available resource is structured in a frequently asked questions format and covers a myriad of topics, including secure messaging with patients, attestation reporting periods and public health reporting. Announcement
> EHR vendor drchrono has launched what it calls the first fully featured iPhone EHR. The tool has full EHR functionality and documentation, and is particularly helpful when a physician has only his or her phone. For instance, a physician can document a full patient encounter, sign off on it, lock the note and bill right to an insurance company or submit full documentation to a billing team. Announcement
Health Finance News
> Emergency doctors say federal regulations could create big bills for consumers seeking emergency care outside their provider networks, but health policy experts and consumer advocates warn their proposed solution doesn't take care of the problem. Article
> The healthcare sector is expected to create at least 3.8 million new jobs in the United States by 2024 and Forbes has determined which ones will be the hottest in the next decade. Article
Health Insurance News
> Health insurers concerned about the rising cost of prescription drugs now will have access to a new tool that lets them--and the public at large--analyze spending trends on the medicines that cost the country's largest payer the most. The Medicare Drug Spending Dashboard includes "relevant spending, utilization and trend data" about 40 Part D drugs and 40 Part B drugs that are either ranked in the top 15 in terms of total program spending, ranked among the top 10 in high unit cost increases or associated with a high annual per-user spending. Article
> A new study from Health Affairs examines the influence of the Affordable Care Act's optional state Medicaid expansion on insurance coverage and health outcomes for hospitalized patients with HIV. The study found that in four ACA expansion states, the percentage of uninsured hospitalizations for people with HIV declined from 13.7 percent to 5.5 percent. Article
And Finally... Well, it was a joint military base. Article