News From Around the Web
> Cloud electronic health record vendor Modernizing Medicine will acquire gMed, Inc., which specializes in gastroenterology EHRs and related products, such as revenue cycle management. Modernizing Medicine also offers EHRs in other physician specialties. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Announcement
> The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released the newest update to the Cypress eCQMs testing tool July 23. The updates support the 2015 eCQM annual update and include validation utility and a patch release. Website
> Computerized physician order entry (CPOE) significantly reduced medication errors, especially over time, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. However, CPOE can increase errors when first implemented, and will not eliminate all errors. Abstract
Health Finance News
> Oncologists are so irked over the rapidly escalating cost of drugs used to treat their patients that they are making fairly radical policy proposals and have begun monitoring prices for treatments. Most new cancer drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year cost more than $120,000 for a year-long regiment. Article
> Hospitals and other parts of the healthcare sector are putting their toes back into the borrowing waters once again, and like what they are feeling. The healthcare sector sold $18.9 billion in bonds during the first half of 2015, up 76 percent from $10.8 billion sold during the first half of 2014, according to HFA Partners. Of that sum, $12.6 billion came from hospitals issuing bonds. That's up 215 percent from the $4 billion sold during the first half of last year. The median size of a bond deal also rose significantly, from $70 million to $126 million. Article
Health Insurance News
> The Department of Health and Human Services' plan to ensure quality care for high-risk Medicare beneficiaries--while, in turn, save money--has yet to deliver on some of its key goals. As part of the Affordable Care Act, HHS created a $10 billion innovation lab over 10 years as an experiment for federally run health centers. The goal was to have 90 percent of participating clinics obtain full accreditation as a patient-centered medical home. However, HHS fell short of this goal--only 69 percent did so, according to a new report from the RAND, which was commissioned by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Article
> Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees enjoy considerable plan choice and are likely to continue to do so even amid the wave of consolidation that has recently taken place in the health insurance industry, according to a new analysis from Avalere. The advisory services company's latest snapshot of the program found that the average MA beneficiary had a choice of more than 18 plans in 2015. More than half (58 percent) could choose from at least 15 plans, and 94 percent had at least five MA plan options. Article
And Finally... I'll bet that was an interesting protest. Article