Led by the for-profit chain behemoth HCA, hospitals are demanding payment before treatment of non-emergent care at ERs. According to Kaiser Health News and the Washington Post, approximately 80,000 people decided to forgo care when confronted with this choice at HCA owned hospitals.

Health economists and other observers for years have been pointing to a major issue with providers employing high-tech, high cost treatments that produce negligibly better results in many areas of health.

The gains in income for the average family of four between 1999 and 2009 were largely offset by increased health spending, according to an article by David Auerbach and Arthur Kellermann in the latest issue of the journal Health Affairs.

  The federal government faces an estimated annual structural deficit of $500 billion to $700 billion. A deficit of this magnitude represents a major threat to the economic health of the nation. The structural deficit is defined as the portion of the total annual deficit that results from a fundamental imbalance in receipts and expenditures, not just one-time occurrences or changes in the economic cycle. Steps to reduce and eliminate this structural deficit are urgently needed. 

Making these connections requires assessing information of all types, often from disparate sources, to provide a foundation for strategic and tactical decision-making and insight to those who can make decisions and take action.

The federal budget agreement made in mid-April aimed for some $39 billion in cuts nationally. Over the course of fiscal year 2010, 39 states, accounted for by the National Association of State Budget Officers, sliced some $18.3 billion from already agreed-upon spending.

Article on the Healthcare reform Forum: Transforming Healthcare through Collaboration, Innovation, and Technology

Article on the Healthcare reform: Transforming Healthcare throughCollaboration, Innovation, and Technology

Forum Introduction- Article on Healthcare reform : Transforming Healthcare through Collaboration, Innovation, and Technology

Healthcare remains one of the most pressing issues facing us today. The U.S. healthcare system continues down what most experts have concluded to be an unsustainable path, mired by ever-increasing costs, inconsistent quality, and access pressures. The U.S. spends over $2 trillion on medical care annually, which according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), represents about 2.4 times the average of other OECD countries.