Expect reimbursement delays after the ICD-10 compliance deadline.

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced Friday that it has awarded a $20.75 million Health Care Innovation Challenge grant to a collaborative partnership that includes VHA Inc., the national health care network; TransforMED, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the American Academy of Family Physicians; and, Phytel, Inc., a technology company that leads the field in automated, provider-led population health improvement solutions. The grant will fund a three-year national project involving health care systems, hospitals, and provider practices throughout 16 communities. The goal of the project is to expand the concept of the Patient-Centered Medical Home to the Patient-Centered Medical Neighborhood and connect acute-care hospitals with primary care, specialty and subspecialty practices to drive better quality and superior patient experience at a more affordable cost.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have recently released their April Report on “Active Registrations and Payments” for the Government’s Stimulus Incentive Program. The report provides listings of active Medicare EHR incentive registrants and payments made to them. Chiropractors are now listed as the fourth largest group of Eligible Professionals to collect incentive checks through April 2012.

As the first in its four-part 2012 “Partnerships in Health” series, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), in conjunction with WellPoint, Inc., hosted a Capitol Hill roundtable today highlighting WellPoint’s collaboration with IBM to apply Watson solutions to support clinical decision-making and improving the quality of patient care.

A look at the accomplishments and struggles of a community health center that is more advanced than many rural clinics.

WellPoint, Inc. has announced that it has joined the 100,000 Jobs Mission, a coalition of major corporations that have jointly committed to hiring 100,000 transitioning service members and military veterans by 2020. As the first health benefits company to join the coalition, WellPoint has made a commitment to hiring veterans and to helping those returning to civilian life find employment and transition into the next phase of their lives. For the period ending March 2012, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans was 10.3 percent. 834,000 veterans remain unemployed.

Mitt Romney kept his edge, but Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul all maintained enough momentum to keep the race alive. And in Ohio a long-time health reform proponent fell.

Tennessee Hospital Association president Craig Becker says that $2 billion in uncompensated care is his state's Achilles heel and, unless more citizens get health insurance, it could eventually drive many hospitals out of business.

Newt Gingrich’s Washington-based advocacy on behalf of a broad array of health care interests has been far more extensive than the Republican presidential candidate has acknowledged, a review by the Center for Public Integrity has found.