The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a final Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule to slightly increase the current Medicare payments to acute care hospitals and long-term inpatient hospitals.

Microscopic gold particles could multiply the effectiveness of standard cancer radiation therapy by acting as tiny missiles that destroy blood vessels feeding cancerous tumors. Early research about this method, which could shorten cancer treatment and make it more effective, is being presented at the 2011 Joint Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP).

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule July 29, which increases Medicare payment rates for more than 1,200 inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) by 2.2 percent in fiscal year 2012. CMS projects an increase of $150 million in payments during the first year as a result of the rule, which would also institute new reporting requirements for the facilities.

Although breast cancer mortality has fallen in recent years, improvements in treatment rather than mammography screening appear to have affected the decline, according to a study published online July 28 in the British Medical Journal.  

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) comprised the majority of 254 cardiac deaths among postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease (CAD), and the independent predictors of SCD improved its prediction when they were considered in addition to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), based on a study published July 25 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

A federal jury in Baltimore has convicted interventional cardiologist John R. McLean, of Salisbury, Md., on six healthcare fraud offenses in connection with a scheme in which McLean submitted insurance claims for inserting unnecessary cardiac stents, ordered unnecessary tests and made false entries in patient medical records to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) recently commented on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notice of propose-rulemaking (NPRM) regarding HIPAA Privacy Rule accounting of disclosures. The disparate organizations had very different opinions on the subject.

Using computer-aided detection (CAD) software to help analyze and interpret mammograms does not improve accuracy, but it does raise a womans risk of being recalled for additional testing, according to a study published online July 27 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. An accompanying editorial suggested the need for further improvements in CAD software and described existing technology as more harmful than beneficial.