http://www.smainformatics.com Delivering superior decision support tools and medical care data resources for healthcare business decision making by our clients. en-us Copyright 1999-2010, SMA Informatics. wbrennan@smainformatics.com webmaster@smainformatics.com http://www.smainformatics.com/SMADS/images/sma.png http://www.smainformatics.com/ 56 56 Delivering superior decision support tools and medical care data resources for healthcare business decision making by our clients. http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1019/ Changes Will Reduce Costs and Allow More Focus on Medical Care

On May 9, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced significant steps to reduce unnecessary, obsolete, or burdensome regulations on American hospitals and health care providers. These steps will help achieve the key goal of President Obama’s regulatory reform initiative to reduce unnecessary burdens on business and save nearly $1.1 billion across the health care system in the first year and more than $5 billion over five years....]]> http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1018/ Prior Authorization of Power Mobility Devices (PMD) Demonstration webpage. Stakeholders may submit questions to PAdemo@cms.hhs.gov.]]> http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1017/ Summary of 2011 Board Actions report, a compilation of disciplinary actions initiated by state medical boards during the previous year. In 2011, medical boards took a total of 6,034 disciplinary actions, an increase of nearly 400 actions from 2010.

Read the Summary of 2011 Board Actions report.]]> http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1016/ by Sabrina Tavernise

After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States.

Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6 percent of all births in the 12-month period that ended last July, according to Census Bureau data made public on Thursday, while minorities — including Hispanics, blacks, Asians and those of mixed race — reached 50.4 percent, representing a majority for the first time in the country’s history.

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Health insurers will gain $1 trillion in new revenue over the next eight years under the 2010 health- care law, assuming it’s upheld by the Supreme Court, according to a Bloomberg Government study.

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Piramal Healthcare, a Mumbai, India-based drugmaker, said it has agreed to acquire Decision Resources Group, a health information provider based in Burlington, Mass., from Providence Equity Partners for about $635 million....]]> http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1013/ by Margaret Dick Tocknell

Aetna Inc. is developing commercial ACO and ACO-like relationships with several providers. The company has 10 agreements in place and expects to have a total of 20 under contract by the end of 2012, says Charles D. Kennedy, MD, CEO of aligned care solutions for Aetna....]]> http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1011/ by Ken Terry

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a web-based tool that makes it easier to find detailed U.S. healthcare industry data. The Health System Measurement Project "will allow policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven views of changes in critical U.S. health system indicators," according to an HHS announcement....]]> http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1009/
People with higher levels of education and higher income have lower rates of many chronic diseases compared to those with less education and lower income levels, according to Health, United States, 2011 – the government’s annual comprehensive report on Americans’ health....]]> http://www.smainformatics.com/news/1008/

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its 2012 Milliman Medical Index (MMI), which measures the average healthcare costs for a typical American family of four receiving healthcare through an employer-sponsored preferred provider organization (PPO) plan. The average cost of care for this typical family in 2012 is $20,728. While the 6.9% increase over 2011 is the lowest rate of increase in the ten years of this study, the $1,335 increase surpasses last year's record of $1,319.

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