The prospect for EHR adoption is looking up, says psychiatrist Robert Kolodner, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Besides predicting a 50 percent rise in EHR use by doctors this year, Kolodner believes half of all doctors may be using EHRs as soon as late 2009. One reason for his optimism—all three of the remaining presidential candidates have endorsed IT as a strategy for fixing the healthcare system. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on EHR ...
For years, we’ve been following the conflict between doctors prescribing pain medications and the Drug Enforcement Administration, most recently in “Doctors: The new target in the war on drugs?” (Medical Economics, May 19, 2006.)
Now, the death of actor Heath Ledger from an accidental overdose of six pain and anxiety medicines has prompted a former deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration to reexamine this issue and, specifically, the negative impact of DEA actions on doctors and their patients. We think you’ll find what he has to say illuminating. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on DEA ...
A year after Dr. Russell Neibaur switched his practice to a concierge care model, he feels like he’s in the profession he imagined before entering medical school.
“Before, I was treading water,” Neibaur said. “I (now) feel very upbeat and very rewarded with what I do.” continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on concierge medicine ...
Starting in 2012, doctors in Massachusetts hospitals must order medications, tests, and procedures electronically if those hospitals want to earn quality-of-care bonuses from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on e-prescribing ...
Don’t be a Web hopper. You can scan headlines from your favorite sites all at one location through RSS feeds.
>RSS, which stands for “Really Simple Syndication,” is a technology that brings the online news you want to a single Web page. With RSS feeds, you can view the latest headlines and summaries from the Web sites, say, of JAMA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Diabetes Association, the Kevin, M.D., blog, Business Week, and even Medical Economics. Just click on a headline for the full story.
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on Internet ...
The office that President Bush created to promote interoperable EHRs has received $200 million since 2004, but still hasn’t produced a meaningful strategy to attain its goal, according to the General Accountability Office. But a plan is supposedly in the works. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on EHR ...
Last month, New York became the latest state to confront a problem that other states have been wrestling with for some time—increasing the supply of physicians in their underserved areas.
New York, like other states with large swatches of rural land, has reason to act. One-quarter of the state’s population—roughly 4.9 million people—lives in areas with more than 3,500 people per physician. According to the state Department of Health, it would require an additional 300 primary care physicians or more in each of these Health Professional Shortage Areas to begin to right the imbalance. Many of these same areas are also short of specialists. Eight New York counties, for instance, have no gynecologists practicing obstetrics. And Western New York is hemorrhaging surgeons at an alarming rate. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on health policy ...
In California, some doctors are objecting to a request by Blue Cross that asks doctors to look for conditions that new patients haven’t disclosed in their insurance application forms. The insurer says this helps combat fraud, and is nothing new; the request is voluntary for physicians. Some doctors feel it violates the doctor-patient relationship. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on patient relations ...
In an effort to boost income, orthopedic clinics are looking to add an ancillary service to their practices: selling and providing durable medical equipment on site to patients. Potentially, this could bring a $3,000 to $10,000 per month per doctor, says advocates of the new setup.
However, there are numerous hurdles involved, including making sure you have someone on staff who can handle the constant checklist of guidelines and details. You also need to keep in mind the Stark rules and the Medicare/Medicaid anti- kickback statute. But orthopedists are at least investigating this option. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on ancillaries ...
Word-of-mouth and recommendations are the best ways to get new patients. And patients are seeking those person-to-person reports, but not always from folks they know. Public websites that report on doctors are getting more and more traffic.
And patients don’t only comment on the physician. Everything that happens in your office is fair game for comment, from your selection of magazines to the interaction of your staff. And while consumers may look primarily for qualities like trust and compassion, those may not always be the best factors for rating a doctor. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on patient relations ...
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