The American Hospital Association wants the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to move up its ICD-10 testing plans from March to January, make sure the process is available to all hospitals and establish the same testing date for all Medicare contractors.

A House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing explored whether proposed rules governing the oversight of mobile medical device apps should be codified into law.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are gearing up for ICD-testing with Medicare Administration Contractors (MACs) in March.

The Senate unanimously endorsed a bipartisan bill, the Drug Quality and Security Act (H.R. 3204), which would create an electronic system to track compounded prescription drugs through the distribution chain and impose additional regulations on compounding pharmacies.

Recent data show that healthcare spending is growing at its slowest rate in decades. The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a 29-page report that links the Accountable Care Act to this spending slowdown, and also attributes the law to improvements in quality of care.

A bill introduced by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) would extend the EHR incentive program to behavioral health providers, including psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse facilities and psychologists.

The American Telemedicine Association and three other associations are urging Congress to incorporate patient-generated health data from remote monitoring systems in future Meaningful Use requirements.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a funding initiative to help rural hospitals in Georgia leverage federal programs to adopt health IT, optimize healthcare delivery and support rural economic development, according to an announcement.