TN joins NY's AMGEN lawsuit

Tennessee has joined New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's (left) lawsuit against AMGEN, alleging a "nationwide kickback scheme" to spur drug sales of Aranesp by fraudulent billing of Medicaid, others. International Nephrology Network and ASD Healthcare are also named, with AMGEN. Yesterday's NYAG release.

Passport forges another alliance

Passport Health Communications, based at Cool Springs, announced today an alliance with another revenue-cycle tech provider, Bluemark LLC, based in New Palz, N.Y. Bluemark helps ensure reimbursement for services rendered to medically indigent patients who may be covered by public-benefit programs, including Medicaid or charity assistance. Passport has previously announced a series of similar alliances.

Informatics Corp allies with CMS vendor

Nashville-based Informatics Corporation of America (ICA), a Vanderbilt University Medical Center spinout, announced today it will partner with Columbia, S.C.-based Companion Data Services to offer a unified electronic health record. Companion is a major vendor for the Federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and provides secure hosting and related services, while ICA provides a large suite of services for integration of clinical data by healthcare networks, health information exchanges and regional health information organizations.