ICD-10 preparedness (winnond/Freedigitalphotos.net)

Being ICD-10 ready within your organization is great, but it is not the only thing you need to worry about. It's imperative that your vendors are also ICD-10 ready. It is important that you know that your billing company, clearing houses, and insurance carriers, among other vendors, are also ready.[read more]

Don Berwick

In this podcast interview, Don Berwick, Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts and former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, discusses his views on healthcare with healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of the Health Business Group.[read more]

MRI pricing

Negotiated rates between providers and payers are secret, protected by gag clauses in most contracts. That information has long been available on people's bills, and explanations of benefits, but for a great deal of time no one cared because it might all have been covered by a $20 copay. But this has changed.[read more]

Online health marketing

The dynamics of change in American society and the nation’s healthcare delivery structure have opened new hospital advertising and marketing opportunities. Consider how Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC) and Pomona Valley Health Centers (PVHC) are using Internet strategies to attract new patients.[read more]

Progress in prostate cancer

I have written here many times of my excitement about progress in treating blood-related cancers, so called “liquid tumors.” And, like me, many of our visitors have one of them. But many men also worry about prostate cancer. I am happy to report that here, too, there’s a lot of progress in an unfolding story.[read more]

Jeff McCormick

In this podcast interview, Jeff McCormick, independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts discusses his views on healthcare with healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of the Health Business Group. This is the fourth in a series of nine in-depth interviews with the candidates.[read more]

Photo: Chris Schellenbach

Wound care management just got a little bit cooler. “With the new Google Glass project we want to increase the patient satisfaction, increase the quality of care delivered to the patient, and improve the healthcare experience at a lower cost,” says Kurt Arisohn, President and COO of Wound Care Advantage.[read more]

Big data in healthcare / shutterstock

In a post reform era, the digitization of the healthcare information has provided many stakeholders with massive healthcare data sets. This information (aka “big data”) has the potential to address and dramatically shape the healthcare industry.[read more]

building a marketing team

Building a high-performing marketing team and the systems to support them are strategy-critical investments that will generate significant returns over the long term. More than ever, chief marketing executives are being held to a higher standard of accountability for return on marketing investments.[read more]

bundled payments / shutterstock

The New England Journal of Medicine recently ran an article calling for “Post-Acute Care Reform.” The authors are correct that this is a messed up system that is unlikely to provide the patient with the care she needs. But it is messed up because of previous attempts to “fix” the system.[read more]

Malcolm Gladwell (Flickr/Pop!Tech)

Being a storyteller, Malcolm Gladwell was able to eloquently illustrate some of the challenges with interoperability in healthcare, and how they should be addressed, during a keynote at West Health Institute’s recent Health Care Innovation Day.[read more]

healthcare procedures

A few weeks ago, I saw my primary care provider for a scheduled physical exam, or what the health insurance industry now likes to call a "wellness checkup." Imagine my shock and surprise when I saw the total amount that had been billed to my insurance plan--more than $880.[read more]