The Joint Commission has approved standards changes for accredited hospitals, critical access hospitals, and ambulatory care organizations that provide diagnostic imaging services, including ambulatory organizations that have achieved Advanced Diagnostic Imaging certification.
The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) is revising the NPDB Guidebook to incorporate legislative and regulatory changes adopted since its last edition, including the merger of the NPDB with the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank. The revised Guidebook will offer more...
Hospitals and medical practices across the United States braced for confusion and administrative hassles as new insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect Wednesday. More than 2 million people enrolled in private plans offered under the ACA during the initial sign-up period...
Physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers have formed 123 new accountable care organizations (ACOs) that began operating January 1, providing approximately 1.5 million more Medicare beneficiaries with access to high-quality coordinated care across the United States, the Department f...
Older smokers at high risk of lung cancer should receive annual low-dose CT scans, according to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations published earlier this week. The USPSTF concluded that the benefits for a very specific segment of smokers outweigh the risks involved in...
Starting next month, California licensed midwives will have increased independence and authority in attending births. Assembly Bill 1308, which goes into effect January 1, removes the state requirement that all licensed midwives be supervised by a physician. Licensed midwives had been unable to...
