Medicine & Health articles from April 2007

Medicine & Health archives from April 2007

Paying now to save later: restructuring the payment scale for primary care physicians: the costs (and benefits) of relying on primary care physicians.(Physicians)
April 2, 2007... By increasing the proportion of total health-care spending currently allocated to primary care physicians by only 2 to 3 percent, total healthcare spending could drop as much as 30 percent through the elimination of wasteful spending, according...

Nurse shortage threatens quality of care: and adding nurses may actually cut overall spending.(Care Quality)
April 2, 2007... Patients who want to survive their next visit to the hospital should look for a facility with a low patient-to-nurse ratio, but they should also be prepared to pay a premium for superior care, according to a new study from the Minnesota...

How the Harvard business school would fix health care: innovations ought to disrupt current system, shift care to alternative providers.(Policy)
April 2, 2007... Clayton Christensen, a professor with the Harvard Business School, studies the ways in which industries change to become more efficient, and he thinks that lessons learned about disruptive innovations in the auto, computer and airline...

CMS gears up for the NPI compliance date: a new form marks a shift in procedure.(CMS)
April 2, 2007... On May 23, 2007, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will stop accepting claims submitted by HIPAA-covered health plans and health care providers without a National Provider Identifier. As part of its preparations, CMS recently...

Congress pays attention to PT students: bonus: therapists need to watch out for these denials.(Rehab Theraphy News)
April 2, 2007... Physical therapists who practice in areas suffering health-care provider shortages could become eligible for student loan debt relief, according to a Feb. 20 press release from the American Physical Therapy Association. Representatives...

Focus on rehab: this month's findings in clinical studies: here are summaries of a cross section of recent clinical studies.(Clinical Studies)(Clinical report)
April 2, 2007... OBH Therapy To Hospital Inpatients May Not Matter "The effect of additional physiotherapy to hospital inpatients outside of regular business hours: a systematic review." Brusco NK, Paratz J. Physiother Theory Pract. 2006 Dec;22(6):291-307....

Paying Medicare physicians for performance doesn't make sense, researchers claim: hospitals thrive but primary care applications falter.(Pay-For-Performance)
April 9, 2007... The concept of paying for performance in health care promises to reduce inefficiencies and costs simultaneously, but the benefits derived in hospital settings may not extend to primary care practices, according to several new reports on the...

Medical community wants to keep genetic info on file for 'Personalized Medicine': why women have more at stake than men.(Genetic Information)
April 9, 2007... The future of gone-based health care inched closer in March 2007 as the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007, or "GINA," and Department of Health and Human Services secretary...

Unnecessary spending: the $35-billion price tag on voluntary procedures: we pay for angioplasties when we could pay for aspirin.(Spending)
April 9, 2007... Recent investigations into the causes of seemingly uncontrollable health spending increases have blamed the spending spree on unnecessary and inefficient over-head or the rapid aging of baby boomers, but Americans should point the finger back...

Enrollment disasters leave practices in cash-flow limbo: practices could advance 4 months' credit to Medicare for new doctors.(Medicare Enrollment)
April 9, 2007... If a physician practice's carrier is First Coast Service Options or Trailblazer Health Enterprises, it could be waiting a third of a year or more for provider numbers. Enrollment problems with some carriers don't affect only new...

The PQRI 'cap' may force providers to report more services: why doctors could do everything right and still not receive the 1.5-percent bonus.(Quality Reporting)
April 9, 2007... As paltry as the 1.5-percent bonus for participating in Medicare's quality reporting program seems, even that amount isn't guaranteed to spotless participants. Physicians receive an extra 1.5 percent of all their billings if they report up...

A new Democrat plan for payment cuts incites debate.(managed care payments )(Brief article)
April 9, 2007... Democrats have plans to cut managed care payments to insurers to increase enrollment in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, but the Bush administration refuses to play ball. Insurer concerns were alleviated when Health and Human...

Doctors, hospitals and insurers unite To plan care for the poor.(Industry Notes)
April 9, 2007... A group of doctors, private hospitals and insurance companies has banded together to form the Coalition of Leaders for Louisiana Healthcare, reports the Times-Picayune (New Orleans). The coalition is dedicated to solving the issue of caring...

Physician Regulatory Issues Team.(In Other News ...)
April 9, 2007... When Uncle Sam calls a physician to active military duty, a practice may have to replace him for more than 60 days. So physicians asked the Physician Regulatory Issues Team if Medicare could relax the 60-day limit it imposes on locum tenens, or...

West Texas Hospital, the physician-owned facility that called 911 for a patient who had complications, will stop providing health care services on March 30.(In Other News ...)
April 9, 2007... West Texas Hospital, the physician-owned facility that called 911 for a patient who had complications, will stop providing health care services on March 30. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services revoked its Medicare certification, and...

More than 21,000 providers owe back taxes on their Medicare income and yet keep receiving federal payments.(In Other News ...)
April 9, 2007... More than 21,000 providers owe back taxes on their Medicare income and yet keep receiving federal payments, the Government Accountability Office told a March 20 hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

Some African Americans distrust the organ donor system--with good reason: CMS revamps transplant procedures.(Organ Donation)
April 23, 2007... Even though African Americans develop end-stage kidney disease more frequently than whites, they remain less likely than whites to receive a donated organ and wait longer for the transplanted organs they do receive, according to a report from...

Democratic 'Six For '06' campaign loses a leg: CBO criticizes proposed Medicare Part D negotiations.(Medicare Part D)
April 23, 2007... When Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Max Baucus (D-MT) asked the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to comment on the potential savings gained by mandating the negotiation of Medicare Part D prescription-drug prices, they undoubtedly hoped...

HIV treatment and prevention techniques leave women behind: HHS spends $1.1 billion on HIV treatments that favor men.(HIV/AIDS)
April 23, 2007... Women infected with HIV who want high quality health care may want to avoid Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act-funded clinics, where men receive better care, according to a new study. Women treated at a Ryan White clinic...

Medicare Advantage puts traditional-medicare recipients at a disadvantage: minorities contend that MA changes could cut quality of care.(MA Plans)
April 23, 2007... In an effort to find funding for expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, legislators have identified inefficiencies in programs such as Medicare Advantage, but minority advocates caution that proposed cost-saving changes to the...

Mental illnesses cost more than cancer: one-quarter of hospitalizations involve mental illness or substance abuse.(Mental Health)
April 23, 2007... Mental illnesses affect nearly 60 million people in the United States, and those individuals impact our health care system more than we might suspect, according to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare and Research Quality. "An...

Which states' regulations impair health care? New York provides fewer choices than any other state.(Health Policy)
April 23, 2007... Utah residents have more control over their health care than the residents of any other state, according to a new set of "health freedom" rankings released by the Pacific Research Institute. PRI's report attempts to measure the degree to...

Cover the uninsured week marks an unwanted 5th anniversary: hispanics remain uninsured at a disproportionate rate.(Uninsured)
April 30, 2007... The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced a variety of programs scheduled from April 23 through April 27 to mark its fifth annual drive to provide coverage for the uninsured, but organizers undoubtedly look forward to canceling the event in...

Physicians may place their own interests before their patients': relationships with drug companies, imaging centers damage physician objectivity, researchers allege.(Physicians)
April 30, 2007... Most physicians enjoy profitable relationships with drug companies and medical imaging centers that may encourage medical advice detrimental to patients' pocket books, according to two new studies from the New England Journal of Medicine and...

Why consumer-based health care reforms may not cut costs: hint: physician diagnoses control the costs of health care.(Health-Care Costs)
April 30, 2007... Policymakers have touted consumer-based health care as a way to curb rapid rises in health spending, but so many physicians ignore uninsured patients' out-of-pocket costs that assigning consumers more financial responsibility may not provide an...

CMS abruptly rescinds transmittal 65--what this means for inpatient settings: certain California PTAs can relax about losing their jobs.(Hospitals)
April 30, 2007... If you're a hospital-based inpatient facility, you can breathe a sigh of policy-changing relief: You're no longer faced with adhering to Transmittal 65's tricky policies. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released on Jan. 26...

Therapists are exempt from competitive bidding process: but they'll still need accreditation.(Durable Medical Equipment)
April 30, 2007... It's official: The final rule implementing Medicare's new competitive bidding program is here at last--leaving nearly 6,000 suppliers about two months to try to hold onto their Medicare revenue. The regulation--"Competitive Acquisition for...

Agonizing audits may settle consult issue: but consult confusion will continue into next year.(Billing)
April 30, 2007... What's the difference between a consult and a transfer of care? The experts still aren't sure. The CPT Editorial Panel failed to reach a consensus on how to clarify the definition of consult at its February meeting, according to the...