Hospital-at-home and telehealth reimbursement from CMS will expire at the end of 2024 without congressional action. Here are five things to know about what the CMS and Congress need to do to extend reimbursement for these programs.
ACO Reach program savings grew larger in 2023. NAACOS is angling for the model's extension
Accountable care organizations in the ACO Reach program can claim credit for saving the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hundreds of millions of dollars. ACO Reach participants racked up CMS $1.64 billion in gross savings and $694.6 million in net savings, the feds announced Nov. 8. Net savings to ACOs are $984.4 million compared to benchmarks, and these savings can be reinvested by the ACOs to improve quality scores further.
Oracle Health is advancing its presence in the EHR market with the development of a new AI-powered EHR platform. Announced in October, the new EHR incorporates advanced cloud and AI capabilities and is built independently of Cerner's original platform. Oracle says the system is free of traditional menus and drop-down screens, allowing clinicians to access information with simple voice commands.
Days before the 2024 presidential election, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an unpublished version of the final calendar year 2025 physician fee schedule (PFS) final rule. CMS finalized nearly all of the digital health policies as proposed that it set out in July's draft rule, but they are meager offerings. In the final rule, the agency seemed to decry its limited authority on all areas of digital health payment policy, including digital therapeutics and telehealth.
Cybersecurity is an essential, if often costly, aspect of hospital operations. It's important to find affordable cybersecurity solutions that still offer robust protection. Implementing cybersecurity on a budget requires clear communication with the hospital’s leadership to ensure buy-in. It's important to educate stakeholders on the significance of cybersecurity investments, particularly those that may not show immediate returns but prevent costly breaches in the long term.
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