News From Around the Web
> The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has updated the Bonnie electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) testing tool. The new version includes a compact visualization of measure logic and, among other things, allows for a compact view of test coverage. Website
> ONC also has updated its eCQM on Hepatitis B vaccine coverage for newborns before hospital or facility discharge and is seeking public comment. It is just one of the eCQMs under development. Comments can be submitted to the US Health Information Knowledgebase operated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Website
Health Finance News
> CMS wants to end the long wrangling with hospitals over short-term inpatient stays. The agency offered to pay hospitals to settle the cases that are in dispute or under appeal, which may total as many as 800,000. The total sum represents 68 percent of what the hospitals say they are owed, according to a notice posted on CMS' website, and could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Article
> The per capita surgery rate in the United States is some 50 percent higher than in the European Union countries, and that higher demand is apparently driving up prices dramatically. The prices for procedures such as gallbladder surgery--which is now an outpatient procedure that does not require a multi-day hospital stay--rose more than 20 percent over the past five years. Article
Health Insurance News
> Last open enrollment period was no walk in the park--plagued by backend issues and other complications, HealthCare.gov did not get off to a great start. This upcoming enrollment period, set to kick off on Nov. 15, may be even more difficult than the last. With estimated double-digit rate hikes and the goal to enroll about five million new members, yet another concern surfaces--the time frame is now three months instead of six. Article
> Medicaid: to expand or not to expand? That is the question for the 24 states who opted out of the 2012 ruling under the Affordable Care Act. But for the 26 states, and the District of Columbia, who chose to extend the option to lower-income residents, the uninsured rate has dropped, while hospital admissions has increased, finds a new report from PwC's Health Research Institute. Article
And Finally... If I were her parents I'd be asking whether she should be working on her grades and not playing furry dress-up. Article