Florida pilot program will examine rural telemedicine; CHIME names new chief of staff;

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> A pilot project in Tallahassee, Florida, will examine the benefits of telemedicine for rural communities after board members on Tallahassee-Leon County's economic development council approved a budget allocation of $1 million for the study, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Article

> The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives this week announced that Susan Aldrich was named chief of staff and vice president for the organization. It also announced the appointments of Kevin Clearly as vice president of education foundation and Pam Matthews as vice president of education and business development. Announcement

Provider News

> Public health campaigns and efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of concussions and other related head injuries may have contributed to the 30 percent increase in emergency room (ER) visits for traumatic brain injury over a four-year period, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers looked at emergency room visit data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample database. Between 2006 and 2010, 1.7 percent of the 138 million emergency department visits resulted in a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury. Post

Health Insurance News

> There's "a long, hard slog" ahead for exchanges and their carriers, Joel Ario, former director of the HHS Office of Health Insurance Exchanges, said this week at the second national health insurance exchange summit in the District of Columbia. Ario, along with leaders from the Rhode Island and Connecticut exchanges, agreed healthcare reform implementation is a marathon, not a sprint and offered their advice for success--as well as lessons learned from their missteps--during the panel discussion. Article

> A Medicare Strike Force enforcement action in six cities resulted in the arrest of 90 people accused of participating in fraud schemes that robbed Medicare of about $260 million, the U.S. Department of Justice announced this week. Charges against the defendants include conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, violations of anti-kickback statutes and money laundering, the announcement stated. Alleged schemes involved home healthcare, mental health services, psychotherapy, physical and occupational therapy, durable medical equipment and pharmacy fraud. Article

And Finally... Not exactly crumbs or loose change. Article