Four of 10 participating medical groups will split $29.4 million for achieving quality and savings targets in the fifth year of the Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration Program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today.

Recent media coverage of accountable-care organizations (ACOs) has included considerable speculation, both about how ACOs will evolve and about the manner in which health-care providers should proceed, in light of such evolution. Douglas G. Smith, FRMBA, is senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Integrated Medical Partners (IMP), a

Pressing issues, among them the ever-shrinking Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and the threat of further imaging cuts wrought by the debt-ceiling agreement signed on August 2, might be looming larger than accountable-care organizations (ACOs) on radiology providers’ radar screens.

Amid talk of another recession, health care employment rates are rebounding to a level comparable those seen in 2007 prior to the start of the economic downturn, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), slamming a proposed HIPAA rule that would allow patients to request reports that identify any party or entity that accesses their electronic health records.

Administrative costs incurred by U.S. physicians far exceed those incurred by physicians in Canada, reveals a survey published in the August issue of Health Affairs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a rule that re-establishes its Medical Drugs Advisory Committee. The rule becomes effective today, with committee authority remaining in force until May 18, 2013 unless the FDA Commissioner formally determines that renewal is in the public interest.

Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ: MRGE), a Chicago, Ill.-based provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, has acquired Ophthalmic Imaging Systems (OIS) (OTC/BB: OISI), a provider of digital imaging and informatics solutions for ophthalmology and other medical specialties. Ophthalmic Imaging Systems is headquartered in Sacramento,