Articles by Industry Expert


New Directions for Medicare Physician Payment

By Jordan Kiszla & Rachel Nuzum – HHS issued a proposed rule to implement MACRA. Congress passed this bipartisan legislation last year to replace the sustainable growth rate formula (SGR)—which tied the growth of Medicare physician payments to growth in the economy—with an approach that rewards high-performing providers and supports alternative payment models.


Why DSM is a Failure for Referral Management

By Jeremy Guttman – Contrary to what some EHR proponents believe, DSM by itself is an unpopular and ineffective solution when it comes to true interoperability, care coordination and referral management. It has almost no practical benefit for referral management beyond what primary care practices use it for right now: getting credit for Meaningful Use stage 2.


Reminder of Brave New Business Associate World

By Matt Fisher – Potentially lost in the week leading up to the July 4th holiday weekend, the OCR announced its latest HIPAA related breach settlement. The settlement is one of the first directed at a business associate and serves as a pointed reminder that business associates may be directly liable for the breaches that they may cause.




At This Medical School, Students Mix Science And Health Policy

By Julie Rovner – Medical students cram a lot of basic science and medicine into their first two years of training. But most learn next to nothing about the intricacies of the health care system they are soon to enter. That’s something the medical school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., is trying to remedy.