HIMSS president/CEO provides written testimony to US Congress

The House Ways and Means Committee members discussed discarding the current Medicare payment formula to consider tying payments to physicians based on their job performance on February 10th.  Although some members of Congress do not support the pay-for-performance model, HIMSS president and CEO H. Stephen Lieber provided written testimony in support of exploring alternative payment systems such as paying for quality and efficiency.
   
In his testimony, Lieber stated that "HIMSS agrees with your statement, Madame Chair, that 'physicians are essential to the Medicare program and without their participation, our seniors will lose access to high-quality care.'" In addition, the HIMSS president outlined three recommendations to the Subcommittee for consideration.   
   
To read the complete testimony of HIMSS President/CEO H. Stephen Lieber, visit: http://www.himss.org/content/files/2005TestimonyLieberHouseHealth.pdf.

Around the web

RBMA President Peter Moffatt discusses some of the biggest obstacles facing the specialty in the new year. 

Deepak Bhatt, MD, director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and principal investigator of the TRANSFORM trial, explains an emerging technique for cardiac screening: combining coronary CT angiography with artificial intelligence for plaque analysis to create an approach similar to mammography.

A total of 16 cardiology practices from 12 states settled with the DOJ to resolve allegations they overbilled Medicare for imaging agents used to diagnose cardiovascular disease.