Monthly Archives: July 2018

  Today's Top Story Physicians press CMS on MIPS reporting and PTAC payment models During a hearing before the health subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce committee, physicians called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to change course on opt-out policies for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting. CMS proposed that physician practices with less than $90,000 in Medicare revenue or fewer than 200 unique Medicare patients per year could be exempt from MIPS, leaving [...]

Today's Top Story CMS proposes change to site of care payment policy The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed expanding its site-neutral payment policy to clinic visits, which are the most commonly billed service under the outpatient payment rule and often cost more in the hospital outpatient setting than in the physician office setting. If finalized, this rule could save Medicare $610 million and patients approximately $150 million through lower copayments for off-campus hospital outpatient department [...]

  Today's Top Story Study: Continued adalimumab after remission may reduce nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis flares Patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis who maintained remission with adalimumab may benefit from continued therapy, according to a study published online in The Lancet. The multicenter, randomized, double-blind, two-period study was conducted at 107 sites in 20 countries between June 27, 2013, and Oct. 22, 2015. Researchers enrolled 673 adult patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis who met Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society classification [...]

  Today's Top Story Study: Opioids may be overprescribed for nonoperative fractures and dislocations A study published in the July issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery found that opioids may be commonly overprescribed after nonoperative fracture and dislocation treatments. Researchers analyzed 1,513 consecutive patients in China who underwent nonsurgical fracture and/or dislocation treatment and were prescribed opioids. Over three months, they observed opioid use, alcohol consumption, smoking status, injury location, volume of prescriptions, and consumption [...]

  Today's Top Story FDA issues guidance on use of EHRs in clinical trials The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued recommendations on the use of electronic health record (EHR) data in FDA-regulated clinical trials. According to the guidance, EHRs may provide more data during and after the study, and use of Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology-certified software to ensure EHR reliability is therefore recommended. The guidance says researchers should consider whether the use [...]

  Today's Top Story Study: THA may improve quality-adjusted life-years A study published online in the Journal of Arthroplasty found that total hip arthroplasty (THA) may improve pain, quality of life, and function of life. Researchers assessed 100 patients who received THA for severe osteoarthritis and exceeded the average life expectancy in Switzerland. They observed an overall complication rate of 12 percent. Thirty-day and one-year mortality rates were 3 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The average Harris hip [...]

  Today's Top Story Hospital executives say cost control is top priority According to the Advisory Board’s Annual Health Care CEO Survey, healthcare CEOs ranked “preparing the enterprise for sustainable cost control” as the top priority. This was the first time the item was included in the survey, and 62 percent of executives said it was the top choice, making it the most selected topic in the past four years. “Innovative approaches to expense reduction” was the second [...]

  Today's Top Story Study: Value-based insurance may increase medication adherence Value-based insurance design (VBID) may be associated with increased medication adherence, according to a study published online in Health Affairs. Researchers conducted a systematic review of 21 studies from online databases and used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system to evaluate adherence and VBID. They observed an improvement in medication adherence, ranging from 0.1 percent to 14.3 percent based on moderate-quality evidence. There appeared [...]

  Today's Top Story CMS freezes payments to ACA marketplace insurers The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) suspended more than $10 billion in risk-adjustment payments, which are used to stabilize the health insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to an article in The Los Angeles Times. Under the program, insurers participating in the marketplace make payments into a pool that is redistributed to plans with sicker, more costly patients. This freeze in payments [...]