News From Around the Web
> Doctors and clinics have reported problems figuring out what specialists take narrow network and less expensive exchange plans when making referrals, Kaiser Health News reported. Article
> Kansas responded to Medicaid enrollment concerns, promising to fix its computers by Aug. 15 so they can communicate with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to the Kansas Health Institute News Service. Article
> UnitedHealth Group reported second-quarter revenues of $32.6 billion, up 7 percent from the year prior. This year's second quarter also saw Optum's revenues grow 28 percent year over year to $11.7 billion. Announcement
Health IT News
> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) increasingly is concerned about patient safety and other problems incurred by laboratories' use of electronic health records, according to an analysis in Healthcare IT News. Article
> Eighty-nine members of Congress have asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to give pathologists a break and extend the hardship exemption they currently enjoy for all of Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program. Article
Provider News
> Rochester General Hospital in New York is teaching collaboration with a program that brings first-year internal medicine and pharmacy residents, nurse practitioner students and respiratory therapists together. Article
> It will cost $17.6 billion over the next three years to hire enough doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners and build outpatient clinics to fix the widespread problems that led to the Veterans Affairs secret waitlist scandal, Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan D. Gibson told the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs' Committee. Article
And Finally... See Spot run ... for mayor. Article