News From Around the Web:
> National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari challenged RAND's recent report that electronic health records don't save money. In a letter to the editor published recently in the New York Times, Mostashari noted that the study "misses the critical point" in that the key to taming costs is payment reform, and that EHRs are necessary to carry out those reforms. Letter to the editor
> The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released several new and revised answers to frequently asked questions about the EHR Incentive programs. Some of the topics covered include dealing with multiple locations, disputing payment amounts and the timeline for receiving incentive payments. Website
Provider News
> Some small practices are bucking the employment trend and embracing alternative business models. Some of these "counter culture" models include boutique medicine, telepractices, and house calls. Article
> Brain scans show that physicians empathize with patients, feeling their pain as well as relief following treatment, even if the physicians don't show it, according to a new study in Molecular Psychiatry. Article
Health Insurance News
> Two former Humana employees have been charged with bribery and racketeering for accepting more than $4 million to drive some of the insurer's Medicare business to a South Carolina company. Article
> Narrow network plans, which some say are akin to the failed HMO experiment of the 1990s, are making a comeback. As insurers prepare to sell plans through health insurance exchanges, they're hoping these limited networks will appeal to a large number of new consumers. Article
And Finally... Well that settles that! Article