Monthly Archives: June 2018

  Today's Top Story U.S. hospitals face injectable opioid shortage U.S. hospitals frequently run out of injected opioids due to manufacturer shortages, according to a report from the Associated Press. To compensate, doctors and pharmacists report rationing injectable opioids, using slower-acting or less effective pain medications, or sedating patients. The American Medical Association said the drug shortages are a public health crisis, and other medical groups have asked regulators to step in, as some patients undergoing surgery, those [...]

  Today's Top Story Study finds value-based payment models and healthcare marketplace competition may not reduce costs Early value-based payment models did not reduce the total cost of care or improve clinical quality outcomes, according to a report from the Healthcare Financial Management Association, Leavitt Partners, and McManis Consulting, with support from the Commonwealth Fund. Researchers assessed commercial data from 2012 to 2014 and Medicare data from 2007 to 2015 and found no statistically significant correlation between the [...]

Today's Top Story CMS launches Data Element Library to advance EHR interoperability The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the launch of the Data Element Library (DEL), a free, centralized database to support the interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs). The public can use DEL to view specific data that long-term and post-acute care facilities are required to collect as part of patient health assessments. DEL includes information technology standards that support the collection of health [...]

  Today's Top Story Trump administration proposes HHS restructuring as part of large government overhaul As part of a 132-page plan titled Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century, the White House proposed to move all major public-assistance programs, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), into one large agency called the Department of Health and Public Welfare. The proposal serves as an initiative to move toward a “small government.” The proposal describes the initiative as [...]

Today's Top Story Trump administration rolls out new healthcare option for small businesses President Donald Trump’s administration issued a final rule yesterday allowing small businesses to unite and create health insurance plans that cost less but offer fewer benefits. The association health plans allow small-business owners, their employees, and other self-employed individuals to band together to buy or supply insurance in the large-group market. President Trump said the association health plans could “provide more affordable health insurance options [...]

  Today's Top Story Study: Knee osteoarthritis disease severity may be linked to depression In patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), greater structural disease severity and pain, as well as decreased physical performance may increase the risk of depression, according to a study presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology. Researchers included 1,652 patients aged 45 to 79 years from the Osteoarthritis Initiative who had radiographic disease but did not have depression at enrollment. They assessed OA disease [...]