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The CMS' release of per capita spending for Medicare beneficiaries shows that some states, particularly in the South, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, are spending significantly more on inpatient and post-acute care than northern and western states.

Cancer Care Administered by Oncologist-Owned Practices Costs 3 to 14 Percent Less Than Hospital-Owned Oncology Practices Greatest dollar gaps seen in metastatic colorectal cancer, according to ASCO presentation.

For oncologists and other cancer care specialists, value-based care is essential.

Excitement at ASCO 2014 on Incyte's new immunoonoclogy drug candidate, INCB024360 ('360),in melanoma, despite a small 'n'.

In recent years, spending in just about every area of the nation's health care system remarkably has slowed. U.S. health care costs rose by just 3.7 percent in 2012, according to a report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), marking the fourth consecutive year of slow growth.

Charges for some of the most common inpatient procedures surged at hospitals across the country in 2012 from a year earlier, some at more than four times the national rate of inflation, according to data released by Medicare officials on Monday.

A new study finds that Medicare is spending billions of dollars more than it needs to on prescription drugs for low-income seniors and disabled beneficiaries.

The federal government may reimburse doctors for talking to Medicare patients and their families about advance care planning, including living wills and end-of-life treatment options potentially rekindling one of the fiercest storms in the Affordable Care Act debate.

With 36 states utilizing Healthcare.gov, and with at least 2 additional states considering enrollment, the concept of a national healthcare insurance exchange (HIE) may quickly become a reality.

In the search for meaningful patient care improvements and sustainable financing, some independent physician groups are charting unique approaches that may offer models for payers and providers in the age of cost-containment and risk-sharing.

Specialty pharmaceuticals are currently the object of payer focus as one of the major drivers of increased pharmacy spending in 2014 and beyond.

2.5 Credits - CPE | Expires 05/21/2016

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned amid widespread troubles in the VA healthcare system. President Barack Obama says he accepted the resignation with "considerable regret."

Beginning July 1, health providers can expect to receive incentives for prescribing specific cancer treatments backed by the insurance company WellPoint. The WellPoint's innovative program will pay providers $350 per patient per month each time they choose 1 of the insurer's "preferred" cancer treatment options.

The nation's healthcare system needs to follow the lead of the aviation and manufacturing industries and adopt a systems-engineering approach to quality improvement, but fee-for-service payments and an inadequate health data infrastructure are obstacles to doing so, according to a new report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Medicare overpaid physicians $6.7 billion in 2010 for evaluation and management services, HHS' Office of Inspector General said in a study released Thursday.

Although they're not expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, Texas, Florida and other states are expanding managed care, bringing insurers opportunities as well as challenges, including competition from provider-based health plans.

The research headed by Roger Gomis at IRB Barcelona, with the collaboration of Joan Massagué, describes that the loss of the suppressor RARRES3 promotes the colonization of breast cancer cells in the lung.

Controlling the costs of prescription medications for patients with chronic illnesses is at the forefront of almost every stakeholder's agenda in healthcare. Increasingly, efforts are being made to incentivize providers to engage with patients in financially responsible decision making.

There are rumblings that federal lawmakers may be willing to repeal Medicare's burdensome rule requiring physicians in critical access hospitals to make an educated guess that the patients they're admitting will be either discharged or transferred in less than four days.

Physicians are wary of new healthcare payment models emphasizing quality and efficiency metrics, but hospitals are likely to prove resilient.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today issued an update to its clinical practice guideline on the use of adjuvant endocrine therapy for women with stages I-III hormone receptor positive breast cancer.

BMS, which has a rapidly developing and successful immunooncology pipeline, has entered into a collaboration with CytomX to develop their Probody Therapeutics antibody platform. The Probody technology improves efficacy and safety as the antibodies are activated only in the disease microenvironment and not in normal tissue.

Recent controversy over the cost of Sovaldi (Gilead Sciences)-a $1000-per-dose treatment for hepatitis C-has sparked a debate as to whether there should be federal caps on the costs of certain prescription drugs.

1.5 Credits - CME/CPE | Expires 05/15/2015

The CMS has unveiled two initiatives that could significantly affect pay and operations for Medicaid managed-care plans and healthcare providers serving millions of low-income and disabled Americans.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the health law's expansion of coverage to more than 13 million people this year has been the nation's safety-net hospitals, which treat a disproportionate share of poor and uninsured people and therefore face billions of dollars in unpaid bills.

New York's safety net providers have a new impetus and incentive to collaborate on redesigning how they serve Medicaid patients - if they can make all the moving pieces work.

Advocates for a single-payer Medicare for all health system are fanning out across Capitol Hill this week, lobbying members of Congress.

An international study carried out with involvement of the MedUni Vienna is giving hope to patients with advanced prostate cancer. In just a few years' time, Ipilumumab could be approved as a treatment for the world's third-most common type of cancer.