The 2017 news was replete with stories announcing ransomware attacks on health IT systems across the country.

If the 2017 healthcare environment could be summed up in one word, it would be "uncertainty."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order to make it easier for Americans to buy bare-bones health insurance plans, using his presidential powers to undermine Obamacare after fellow Republicans in Congress failed to repeal the 2010 law.

While the work isn't finished, the latest data shows efforts to improve inpatient safety by implementing best practices are really paying off.

For three years, Chilton County has been without a hospital, which at times, has been challenging for the community. For instance, last year, when a school bus crashed in Clanton, the children had to be driven 30 miles away to Shelby Baptist Medical Center in Alabaster. Fortunately, none of the injuries were life-threatening.

PwC's Health Research Institute looks at areas of interest to the industry in 2017 starting with the looming questions surrounding the Affordable Care Act.

What will be next for health care in the United States? While there have been some successes associated with the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") such as health insurance coverage available for some Americans that had previously not had such access and increased emphasis on core quality standards such as avoidance of hospital acquired infections1, there are more critics than proponents.

ARCpoint Health has unveiled a new software tool to enable primary care physicians to garner greater reimbursements and better manage labs.

Insurers have jumped ship on the health insurance marketplace in Alabama. Started in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the exchange has offered options by insurance carriers to all individuals and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees.

Since I began writing this year-end review in 2013, there have been some common themes - a shift to pay for quality and away from fee-for-service, much of which has been brought about by the Affordable Care Act (ACA): efforts to combat fraud and abuse in the health care system; provider consolidation; Alabama Medicaid's ongoing struggle to cover the cost of health care for our most needy citizens; and increased regulations for the health care industry.

Long before the concept of 'patient engagement' became a rallying cry for the healthcare industry, Healthgrades was at work connecting the public to relevant information on providers and facilities in an effort to help patients make more informed decisions about care.

You just formed your medical practice in Alabama, and you either chose a professional corporation (a "PC") or an LLC. If you went with a PC, you get to choose between an "S" corporation ("S corp") or a "C" corporation ("C corp") for federal and state tax purposes, both named after the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") Subchapter that governs their taxation.

HIPAA and the fees for reproducing an individual's medical records may seem like old news but as recently as May 23rd, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added clarification on this very topic.

The Medical Association of the State of Alabama's (MASA) health insurance for members will rise 15 percent next year. "We didn't like 15 percent," says Mark Jackson, executive director. "But don't get me wrong, we felt fortunate that we were able to keep it at 15 percent."

On August 22, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service released Revenue Procedure 2016-44, which updates conditions under which a management contract will not result in private business use (or "bad use") of property financed with tax-exempt bonds. Compliance with the new safe harbor may be essential to the continued tax-exempt status of related bond issues. Revenue Procedure 2016-44 supersedes its well-known predecessor, Revenue Procedure 97-13.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) means that big changes are coming to healthcare reimbursement; changes that will result in some physicians earning less money and others more.

Last year President Obama signed into law the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). MACRA implemented significant changes in how Medicare reimburses doctors.

Starting in 2019, Medicare's push toward value-based reimbursements will be within reach of the finish line. "It can sound terrifying," says Joni Wyatt, MHA, MHIA, CPHIMS, FHIMSS with Kassouf & Co. "But most practices have already done the work."

Brookwood Baptist Health's (BBH) use of technology has earned it recognition as one of the "Most Wired" hospitals in the U.S. according to Hospitals & Health Network's Most Wired® survey.

On September 8^th, Medicare announced two more ways to participate in the upcoming shift to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). "There are four different payment programs now, since the release of the pick-you-pace model," says Carrie Gulledge, RHIA, director of EHR with MediSys. "They allow providers to test the waters with their toe or jump all in."

"For the times they are a-changin'" says Bob Dylan, and his advice, "then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone," could easily apply to providers floating in CMS's ebb and flow of reimbursement/incentive/penalty structures.