Monthly Archives: April 2017

Today's Top Story GAO: Many children lack access to pediatric trauma centers, but effect on outcomes is not clear. A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that only 57 percent of 73.7 million children in the United States during the period 2011-2015 lived within 30 miles of a pediatric trauma center. The agency notes that among states, the proportion of children who lived within 30 miles of a pediatric trauma center varied widely. The writers [...]

Today's Top Story Government shutdown may have little effect on physician pay. According to Modern Healthcare, physicians should continue to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, even if the U.S. Congress fails to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government. However, the publication notes that providers who are currently registering to participate or are renewing in a government healthcare network may face reimbursement delays due a lack of available staff to process the requests. In addition, U.S. Centers [...]

Today's Top Story Surgeon general resigns; deputy to serve as acting surgeon general. USA Today reports that Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, has resigned as surgeon general of the United States, at the request of the Trump administration. Dr. Murthy is replaced in an acting capacity by RADM Sylvia Trent-Adams, PhD, RN, who has previously served as deputy surgeon general. Read more... Read more about Dr. Trent-Adams… Other News Study: Ambulatory TSA may be appropriate model for certain [...]

Today's Top Story Study: Checklist-based quality program linked to reduction in mortality following inpatient surgery. Data from a study published online in the journal Annals of Surgery suggest that implementation of a checklist-based surgical quality improvement program may reduce mortality following inpatient surgery. The authors drew information from a state-wide all-payer discharge claims database to compare 30-day postoperative mortality rates after inpatient surgery. Overall, 14 hospitals completed participation in a voluntary checklist-based quality program The authors found that [...]

Today's Top Story CMS seeks comments regarding physician-owned hospitals. An article in Modern Healthcare notes that, under the recently released U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) FY 2018 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System and Long Term Acute Care Hospital Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule, the agency is seeking information from physicians regarding the effects of the Affordable Care Act on physician-owned hospitals. Among other things, the rule requests physician input on the following: The appropriate [...]

Today's Top Story House legislation would limit medical liability damages for patients insured through federal programs. The New York Times reports that a bill under consideration in the U.S House of Representatives would, if enacted, impose new limits on lawsuits involving care covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private health insurance subsidized by the Affordable Care Act. The bill would set a $250,000 limit on noneconomic damages, although states would be permitted to set different limits. Supporters of the [...]

Today's Top Story HHS secretary calls for physicians to offer input on payment models. Bloomberg BNA reports on statements from the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, a committee called for under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act to consider and recommend alternative payment models. Secretary Tom Price, MD, stated that "one size fits all" Medicare payment models have helped contribute to physician burnout, [...]

Today's Top Story Study: Physicians spend more time on "desktop medicine," less on face-to-face interaction. A study published in the April issue of the journal Health Affairs suggests that over time physicians spend less time on face-to-face interaction with patients and more time working on computers. The researchers reviewed electronic health record (EHR) time stamp information from 471 primary care physicians from 2011 to 2014. They found that physicians logged an average of 3.08 hours on office visits [...]