SAN ANTONIO--Global economic dispassion is a force that has injected itself into the healthcare debate in a powerful way, said the Honorable Micheal O. Leavitt, founder and chairman of Leavitt Partners, former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and three-time elected governor of Utah, during his speech at CHIME11, the Fall CIO Forum.

LAS VEGASAccountable care organizations (ACOs) cannot be achieved without cultural changes and clinical integration, which requires structured collaboration between physicians and the varied provider settings, and will be necessary to reducing the current waste in the healthcare system, according to a presentation Oct. 25 at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) 2011 annual conference.

Several practices with rich meaningful use experience share their approaches, discuss challenges and provide strategies to participate in the meaningful use process with the hospital or multi-specialty practice.

The session explores how the aging population, consumerism of healthcare, the accontable care organization model and health IT adoption will impact imaging.

While the Medicare Payment Advisory Commissions (MedPACs) overall goal to scrap the governments sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula is commendable, most say the commission is going about it the wrong way and have asked MedPAC to rethink its proposal. A MedPAC solution, proposal in September, was recommended by members in a 15-2 vote Oct. 6; however, most say the plan needs reworking, particularly because the proposal to overturn SGR is laced with long-term freezes and cuts to physician payments.

Hospitals in Louisiana employ more than 99,350 people and contribute $4.4 billion annually in payroll, according to an analysis by the Louisiana Hospital Association released Sept. 22. But cuts in Medicaid payment could lead to the loss of approximately 6,764 jobs and $258 million in earnings statewide, according to the report, Hospitals and the Louisiana Economy, 2011.

Many primary care physicians in the U.S. believe their own patients are receiving too much medical care, according to the results of a survey published in the Sept. 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Reps. Dave Reichert, (R-Wash.), Jim Matheson, (D-Utah), Pete Olson, ( R-Texas), and Bill Pascrell, (D-N.J.) introduced H.R. 3032, the Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act of 2011, Sept. 22. The bill would require the Medicare program to recognize radiologist assistants (RAs) as non-physician providers of healthcare services to Medicare beneficiaries.