PRESS RELEASES

October 25, 2007 - New Book Teaches Chiropractors Profitable Billing and Compliant Office Management - Book Offers Winning Internet Strategies for Payer-Provider Conflict Management
Lirov's new book, Practicing Profitability, helps owners of healthcare offices understand the rules of the modern "payer-provider conflict" so that they can improve billing and reduce audit risk. It's the first book to systematically approach medical billing from the payer-provider conflict perspective and to apply the "network effect." Practicing Profitability touches on every aspect of modern medical or chiropractic office management software--including workflow, reporting, outsourcing, scheduling, EMR, SOAP notes, care plans, coding, billing, collections, HIPAA compliance, and audit risk management.

June 9, 2006: Doctors Receive Best-of-Breed EMR and Billing Solution
MediEMR and Affinity Billing Offer Integrated ASP Architecture
Download in PDF

March 21, 2006: Doctors Improve Patient Care with Affinity Billing;
Integrated Workflow Helps Manage Growing Patient Volume, Regulatory Compliance, and Profitability
Download in PDF

February 1, 2006: Doctors Gain Control and Add Revenue with Affinity Billing
Affinity Billing Integrates Practice Workflow Management and Medical Billing
Download in PDF

January 23, 2006: Doctors Improve Productivity and Profitability –
UBS-ABI Will Present Improved Billing Solution on February 8 in Princeton

December 13, 2005: Doctors Add Interest Revenue to Improved Collections
UBS-Affinity Billing Lockbox Expedites and Improves Reliability of Medical Billing
Download in PDF

ARTICLES

May 5, 2008: The Renal Business Beat
Fresenius joins the electronic health record market
By Bittina Larson
Nephr Online - May 5, 2008

May 1, 2008: Guam has new accredited dialysis center
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Marianas Variety - May 1, 2008

April 30, 2008: Heparin Contamination May Have Been Deliberate, F.D.A. Says
By Gardiner Harris
New York Times - April 30, 2008

April 30, 2008: Heparin Plant in China Passed 'in-Depth' Review
By Julie Schmit
Red Orbit - April 30, 2008

April 21, 2008: U.S. Identifies Tainted Heparin in 11 Countries
By Gardiner Harris
New York Times - April 21, 2008

April 21, 2008: China and U.S. Clash Over Cause of Heparin Deaths
By Justin Blum
Bloomberg - April 21, 2008

April 21, 2008: FDA cites Chinese firm's manufacturing processes for heparin
By Kevin Freking
Associated Press - April 21, 2008

April 21, 2008: Nephros Strengthens Commercialization Team with Addition of Marketing Executive
PR Newswire - April 21, 2008

April 21, 2008: Sierra Medical to offer care for kidney patients
By Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times - April 21, 2008

April 14, 2008: Outpatient nephrologic care resulted in fewer deaths in patients with diabetes, CKD
By Katie Kalvaitis
Endocrine Today - April 14, 2008

April 11, 2008: Poorly kept dialysis unit is cleaned up
By Yvonne Wingett and Amanda J. Crawford
Arizona Republic - April 11, 2008

April 8, 2008: Northwestern Memorial Successfully Completes Rare Four-Way Domino Paired Kidney Exchange Transplant Surgery
PR Newswire - April 8, 2008

April 8, 2008: Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy Hires National Accounts Director To Expand Kidney Disease Services
Biloxi Sun Herald - April 8, 2008

April 4, 2008: CMS Releases Regulation Modernizing Dialysis Centers
Medical News Today - April 4, 2008

April 4, 2008: Medicare mandates upgrades at dialysis sites
By Aliza Marcus
Arizona Daily Star - April 4, 2008

April 3, 2008: Stenting Provides No Advantage Over Medical Treatment for Patients With Renal Artery Stenosis: Presented at SCAI
By Ed Susman
DG News - April 3, 2008

April 3, 2008: Will CMS's Bundled End-Stage Renal Disease Payment System Result in Efficiencies or Less Access to Care for Medicare Patients?
By Angela Maas
Atlantic Information Services, Inc. - April 3, 2008

April 2, 2008: Heparin Scandal Leads to More Questions on Overseas Drug Makers
Newsinferno - April 2, 2008

April 1, 2008: Renal artery stenting falls short in large randomized trial
Patients with renal artery stenosis did equally well with medical therapy alone
Eurek Alert - April 1, 2008

April 1, 2008: UCLA Awarded Grant to Improve Kidney Transplant Outcomes for Kids
Imperial Valley News - April 1, 2008

March 31, 2008: Nephros Reports 2007 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Financial Results
CNN Money - March 31, 2008

March 31, 2008: Did Heparin Kill My Wife?
By Lucy Campbell
Lawyers and Settlements - March 31, 2008

March 30, 2008: Kidney Walk to honor volunteer Greg Francis
By Michelle Willard
Murfreesboro Post - March 30, 2008

March 29, 2008: Nephrologist Blamed Celebrex for Kidney Problems and Hypertension
By Jane Mundy
Lawyers and Settlements - March 29, 2008

March 28, 2008: St. Joseph's to open dialysis unit
Elmira Star-Gazette - March 28, 2008

March 26, 2008: American Renal Associates to open 5 Denver-area facilities in July 2008
American Renal Associates - March 26, 2008

March 19, 2008: FDA Identifies Contaminant in Blood-Thinning Drug
By Steven Reinberg
WFIE-TV - March 19, 2008

March 18, 2008: Chinese supplier of drug linked to deaths wasn't licensed
By Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker
International Herald Tribune - March 18, 2008

March 14, 2008: Dialysis Corporation of America F4Q 07 Earnings Conference Call
Seeking Alpha - March 14, 2008

March 13, 2008: World Kidney Day: The patient-physician relationship
By Judy Weintraub
NephrOnline - March 13, 2008

March 12, 2008: Large Disparities in Kidney Testing Based on Disease, Gender and State, Quest Diagnostics Health Trends(TM) Report Finds
PR Newswire - March 12, 2008

March 11, 2008: Pediatric Renal Transplantation Benefits From NIH Grant To Emory And Pediatric Partners
Medical News Today - March 11, 2008

March 8, 2008: Germans Seek China Tie to Blood Thinner Heparin
By Carter Dougherty and Elizabeth Rosenthal
New York Times - March 8, 2008

March 8, 2008: Nephrology Coding & Billing Seminars
The Renal Physicians Association - March 8, 2008

December 24, 2007: American Consumer Council Criticizes Cigna and Healthcare System in Death of Teenager
The American Consumer Council criticized health insurance giant Cigna Corp for denying approval for a liver transplant operation that led to the death of 17-year old Nataline Sarkisyan.

November 16, 2007: Fresno Man Gets Five-year Prison Term In $600,000 Medicaid Scam
A Fresno man has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to his part in what the Texas Attorney General’s Office said was a nearly $600,000 Medicaid scam.

October 2007: Outsourcing is 'In'
A couple of months back, Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai took the strategic decision to outsource its payroll activity to Mafoi, a leader in handling HR solutions for a range of industries. The key decision has saved manpower and time for the Hospital as the central HR team at Bangalore can collate the data and send it for further processing to the vendor company (Mafoi). The result is that the HR team is able to concentrate on other important aspects.

July 18, 2007: U.S. Joins Suit Against Renal Care Group Alleging False Billings to Medicare for Home Care Renal Dialysis
The United States has intervened in a whistleblower suit accusing Renal Care Group Inc. ( RCG ) and Renal Care Group Supply Company ( RCGSC ) of fraudulently billing Medicare, the Justice Department announced today. The suit alleges that RCG and RCGSC fraudulently billed for supplies and equipment provided to End Stage Renal Disease ( ESRD ) patients who received dialysis treatments at home. Both companies are owned by Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc. which was also named in the lawsuit.

July 17, 2007: Renal Care Group faces suit for false Medicare billing
The United States filed a civil complaint against Renal Care Group, Renal Care Group Supply Co. and Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc. alleging that the firms fraudulently billed the Medicare program for supplies and equipment provided to End Stage Renal Disease patients, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday.

June 23, 2007: Embarc Deploys New Online Presence for Athena Diagnostics
A compelling design with robust search features allows Athena to stay ahead of the competition.
Embarc has launched a re-designed Web site for Athena Diagnostics, Inc., a reference laboratory dedicated to the development and commercialization of diagnostic testing in the fields of neurology, endocrinology and nephrology.

June 13, 2007: Sugar Land Man Busted For Alleged Multimillion-dollar Ambulance Scam
A Sugar Land man and three Houston residents were arrested by FBI agents Wednesday and charged with billing Medicare and Medicaid for millions of dollars, while paying or offering kickbacks to dialysis patients.

May 13, 2007: Md. says worker siphoned off funds
Money allegedly taken from kidney program raises auditing concerns
For 27 years, Donna M. Lam of Dundalk led the life of a career civil servant, for much of that time helping to make sure that the bills of end-stage kidney disease patients were paid.

April 20, 2007: Physician Groups Nationwide Select Allscripts Practice Management Solutions for Revenue Cycle Management
Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX), the leading provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare, today announced multiple sales of its Practice Management (PM) solutions, helping physicians in practices across the nation become more productive while improving service to their patients.

Assessing Your Hypertensive Patient for Renal Disease
A physician uses renal ultrasonography, excretory urography, and renal arteriography to diagnose renal disease. Renal ultrasonography helps the physician visualize renal structures to evaluate the integrity of tissues and vessels.

Renal Diabetic Cookbooks
Renal diabetes occurs due to a low-sugar level in the kidneys. A patient with renal diabetes has normal blood glucose levels, but the kidney fails to reabsorb the normal amount of glucose back into the blood. The excess glucose is excreted into the blood stream. Renal diabetic cookbooks provide recipes that cater to the specific nutritional needs of these patients.

Renal Diabetic Diets
Diabetes is a medical condition whereby the human body produces an insufficient amount of insulin. Insulin is a natural hormone produced in the body. It is responsible for converting sugar, starch and other food material into energy. Renal diabetes is a type of diabetes, which occurs due to a low-sugar threshold in the kidneys. Diabetic patients have to take special care about their food habits. Doctors typically prescribe a special renal diabetic diet for a diabetic patient.

Importance of Knowing the Basic Anatomy of the Kidney
Kidney anatomy knowledge is especially significant for knowing various diseases having an effect on the kidneys. In addition, it is so useful for comprehending radiology tests and invasive procedures.

Side Effects of SSRI Anti Depressant Drugs On The Urinary System
Most side-effects of SSRIs are reversible; so are side-effects on the renal system. No permanent damage is caused. Yet, it can complicate renal conditions if taken by patients with severe renal impairment. Does this mean patients with renal problems as well as depression or an anxiety disorder must not be prescribed an SSRI drug?

Nutritional Support in Critically Ill Patients
The nutritional support in critically ill patients can be explained in 2 ways 1.Enteral Nutrition 2.Parenteral nutrition

Testing Your Kidney Function
Kidney function tests are general practices utilized to evaluate renal function. They can be done to assess how well the kidneys are working.

Kidney Cancer
Renal Cell Carcinoma which is also called as gurnistical tumor is the very generic form of kidney cancer bobbing up from the Renal Tubule. It is the plebeian type of Kidney cancer caused in adults. The preliminary medication for this Kidney Cancer is surgery. Kidney cancer gives its start up from the two large bean shaped organ called kidney. One kidney is placed in the left and the other is placed in the right side of the backbone. The lower scummier rib cage defends both the kidneys. Renal Cell Carcinoma occurs in nine people out of ten.

Renal Diet
Renal diet is recommended for patients with proteinuria and renal failure. Following a proper renal diet is extremely important in treating chronic kidney failure. The two most common causes of kidney ( renal) failure are diabetes and high blood pressure.

Cause of Kidney Stones in Woman and Man - Remedy Possibilities For
Nephrolithiasis
This article explains the cause of kidney stones (aka nephrolithiasis, renal calculus, renal calculi) - a painful condition suffered by millions worldwide. The author also touches on the various prevention and remedy options including excess calcium intake that can increase the risk of kidney stones in woman.

Your Kidneys And Acidosis
Acidosis is a common problem of your kidneys. Fortunately, it is easily treated. This article will give you the things you need to know about renal tubular acidosis and how to treat it.

High Blood Pressure - The Cause Part II
Second of our two part series on the causes of high blood pressure.

Hepatorenal Syndrome: A Death Sentence?
Renal failure that develops in a patient who has chronic liver failure and cannot be blamed on anything but the underlying hepatic disease is known as hepatorenal syndrome. Its mortality if untreated is 90% within 2 weeks and the 10% left die within 3 to 6 months of onset (100% mortality and no time for effective treatment). The only effective treatment is liver transplant, however, there are new treatments that can help restore renal function to these patients and give the much needed time for receiving a new liver.

Renal Failure: CoQ10 May Improve Kidney Function
"...Study results found that creatinine concentration and BUN levels decreased; additionally, urine production improved from 1,300 to 1,920 ml. Other non-dialysis participants who were treated with CoQ10 also showed significant improvement;"

Diet for Renal Failure Diabetes - What You Must Know! - Part I
Over the years, scientists all over the world have been engaged in creating a perfect solution for kidney patients suffering from diabetes. However, finally I have come up with a solution.

Glomerulonephritis and Pyelonephritis, Two Kidney Infections
Glomerulonephritis and bacterial pyelonephritis are two of the most usual kidney disorders that appear due to infections.

Types of Kidney Failure
Learn about the different types of kidney failure, how it really affects you and health, and how to overcome it.

Discover the Medicinal Properties of the Pear
The pear is also beneficial in weight loss diets because of its mild diuretic action and its depurative effect. When it is ripe and tender, the pear is digested rapidly and easily. It has a mild astringent action and works against the intestinal putrefaction and flatulence occurring in case of colitis and intestinal dyspepsia.

Recalled Dog Food Tainted With Abortion Inducing Rat Poison
The "ingredient" which proved to be a killer in the Menu Foods recalled dog was aminopterin, a cancer drug that once was used to induce abortions, and to this day is still utilized to kill rats in some countries. Aminopterin can be highly toxic. The amount discovered in the recalled food samples was enough to cause kidney failure in dogs.

NSF - NFD Prevention
Patients with moderate to severe renal insufficiency are at the highest risk for developing NSF/NFD

Kidney Cancer - Causes, Symptoms, Information with Treatment
Most cancers are named after the part of the body where the cancer first begins, and kidney cancer is no exception. As kidney cancer grows, it may invade organs near the kidney.

Bean Shaped Kidneys
The kidneys are bean-shaped organs in our bodies vertebrates, they are part of the urinary system. The kidneys are responsible for filtering wastes like urea from the blood system. Once the Kidney has filtered out the waste it excretes them, along with water, as urine.

Gadolinium Side Effects
Gadolinium side effects and Gadolinium MRI linked to skin disorder side effects, Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) and Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD).

Trasylol Kidney Failure
Kidney failure, heart failure, and stroke are side effects associated with Trasylol heart surgery patients according to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Unsolved Mystery Causes Death in Recalled Dog Food
More than sixty million cans and pouches of pet and dog food have been recalled after the death of more than 10 pets including at least 1 dog. The cause of death has been linked to renal or kidney failure but the actual cause is still a mystery.