News From Around the Web
> Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi and Health Management Associates reached an agreement that fully re-instates all 10 HMA hospitals as in-network providers, according to the Clarksdale Press Register. In October, the insurer had offered to reinstate four HMA-owned hospitals at higher in-network rates. Article
> UnitedHealthcare expands it accountable care efforts in Colorado, making more than 300 primary care providers with Primary Physician Partners and South Metro Primary Care eligible for payment incentives based on meaningful improvements in hospital readmission rates, disease management and prevention, patient safety, total cost savings and patient satisfaction, the insurer announced yesterday. Announcement
> Thanks to the delayed release of the 2014 Medicare physician fee schedule, physicians now have until Jan. 31 to change from non-participating to participating or vice versa, according to the American Medical Association. Announcement
Health IT News
> Technology will be central to hospitals' efforts to engage patients in their care and meet Meaningful Use requirements, writes Joey Hobbs, CIO of Community Hospital Anderson, in a recent post to healthsystemCIO.com. Article
> Total digital health funding in 2013 reached $1.92 billion, according to an end-of-year report from Rock Health, a digital health startup seed fund. That figure represents 35 percent growth since 2012, and more than 100 percent growth since 2011. Article
And Finally... Who needs tea leaves when you've got asparagus? Article