Health Leaders Media

Red blood cells stored longer than 21 days are less functional than fresher ones, a small study shows. That's making blood banking organizations such as the Red Cross "really nervous," says the study's author.

Federal meaningful use incentives alone are not adequate to ensure that the vast majority of medical practices don't lose money on electronic health record systems, suggests the author of a study on the cost impact of EHR.

Independence Blue Cross and Abington Health have partnered under an accountable care payment model which pays physicians and hospitals "substantial sums" above the standard reimbursement rate when they meet quality and medical cost targets.

Fee-for-service medicine is a financially unsustainable payment model that should be phased out by the end of the decade, a study commissioned by the Society for General Internal Medicine recommends.

The 30-day all-cause readmission rate dropped to 17.8% in the final quarter of 2012, an early sign that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in the form of  payment and delivery reforms, is having an impact, says a CMS official.

While federal budget cuts promise to chop $11 billion from Medicare funding in 2013, healthcare leaders say they have been preparing for scenarios that call for doing more with less money.

Websites that rate physicians and health plans are not reliable, researchers say, in part because the sample sizes are typically so small that they render the ratings irrelevant.

Nearly one in 10 nurses is male and the number is growing. As in other professions, men typically out-earn women. Full-time female nurses earn 91 cents for every one dollar earned by their full-time male colleagues.