Archive for the ‘Legislation’ Category
Current Status of Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS) Market: What Does the Future Hold?
Over the years ultrasound has evolved as an adjunct to mammography, becoming a valuable tool for use in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Historically, the gold standard for routine breast cancer screening involved radiographic mammography technology but imaging limitations for those patients with dense breast tissue was an issue; dense breast tissue makes mammography interpretation difficult as radiographic images of dense breast tissue appear similar to cancer. Read More »
Computer Assisted Coding: A Critical Step to ICD-10 Readiness
One of the most significant initiatives in recent healthcare history, the ICD-10 is scheduled for adoption on October 1, 2014. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) has set the deadline to help the US Healthcare system transition into the new code set which is meant to incorporate more specific clinical information and is expected to reduce payment errors and speed reimbursement. However, since the transition is complex and will impact the entire enterprise, it is important to have a strategy in place. Read More »
Medical Device Tax: Are Manufacturers ‘Passing the Buck’ to Providers?
With the arrival of the New Year, parts of the government’s healthcare reform legislation have started to slowly come online while others remain in legislative limbo. The 2.3% medical device tax was one of the first reforms to take effect on January 1, 2013. With the Affordable Care Act offering coverage to an additional 30 million patients in 2014, the device tax was conceived as a way to ensure vendors paid their share as providers are expected to purchase more medical technology to meet the demands of these patients. Several companies have fought unsuccessfully to repeal or delay the tax since legislation began in 2010.... Read More »
AbbVie – A Bright Future for Abbott
In 1999, the FDA agreed to a consent decree in which Abbott would discontinue manufacture, distribution and sales in the [...] Read More »
More Proposed Reimbursement Cuts for Radiation Oncology
It seems that every year the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finds additional ways to cut reimbursement for [...] Read More »
Health Insurance Mandate’s Impact
Well the Supreme Court finally ruled on the individual health insurance mandate. For such a politically charged topic, I am [...] Read More »
FDA Roadmap to Innovation
The FDA recently published a roadmap with the goal of promoting innovative new technology in healthcare. This is excellent news [...] Read More »
Liquid Glass, the Next-Generation Defense against HAI
A German company called Nanopool has developed liquid glass technology (SiO2 ultra thin glass layering technology), which can be used [...] Read More »
Electronic Brachytherapy and the Cycle of New Technology Incentives
It is a challenge for providers to decide which emerging technologies to adopt before they become mainstream. CMS has focused on supporting new technologies that offer improved outcomes and lower long-term costs by offering providers the financial incentive to adopt these technologies when they first enter the market. After a few years of aggressive reimbursement, the payment levels are readjusted to reflect the true cost of the technology. One recent example in new technology incentives is electronic brachytherapy, a revolutionary new technology designed to eliminate the need to physically place a radioactive seed within the patients body. Read More »
Technology Solutions for Hospital Readmissions
I looked at several studies on best practices for heart patients and found that telemonitoring reduced their chances of being readmitted by 23%. Another study found that incorporating cardiac parameters in telemonitoring technology showed a 53 to 62% reduction in patients stay and a 27 to 40% reduction in readmissions. Telemonitoring a patient costs approximately $70 per month, making the costs well worth it. Read More »