News From Around the Web
> The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing is awarding $86 million to Truven Health Analytics to build a data warehouse. The project will be part of an effort by Colorado to "pioneer an innovative approach to achieving triple aim," Mike Boswood, Truven Health Analytics president and CEO, said in an announcement. The project will collect data from various sources and integrate Medicaid data for reporting and business process analytics. Announcement
> Advisers to President Barack Obama will tell him to veto a law that would repeal the medical device tax, according to a Star Tribune article. The bill is set to be voted on in the House this week or next week; but the Office of Management and Budget called Rep. Erik Paulsen's (R-Minn.) bill "a large tax break to profitable corporations" that would "increase the deficit to finance a permanent and costly tax break for industry without improving the health system or helping middle-class Americans." Article
> Westchester Medical Center Health Network will soon work with Royal Philips on business and consulting services. The multi-year, $500 million partnership will involve WMCHealth taking advantage of Philips medical technologies, including imagining systems, patient monitoring, telehealth and clinical informatics solutions. Announcement
Provider News
> Several features of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' final rule for accountable care organizations (ACOs) in its Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) will encourage more providers to participate in the program, but the rule does not go far enough on risk assumption, according to some healthcare experts. Article
> The debate continues over the role healthcare providers should play in end-of-life care decisions. Despite calls for healthcare leaders and providers to improve end-of-life care and planning, a physician and an ethics professor write differing opinions in the journal Chest about the involvement of doctors in the decision-making process. Article
Health Insurance News
> Now that Anthem has made an acquisition overture to Cigna and UnitedHealth is courting Aetna, the game has changed for Humana--the insurer that had, until now, garnered the most merger buzz in recent months. If the current takeover bids between the nation's largest insurers come to fruition, Louisville, Kentucky-based Humana could find itself on the outside looking in. Article
And Finally... A big adventure for a little tiger. Article