Bill Clinton made an effort, albeit unsuccessful, to advance his healthcare reform agenda. George W. Bush didn’t get very far, either. Now, after outlining plans during his two-year campaign, it’s President Barack Obama’s turn to try to implement his vision for healthcare reform.
Healthcare reform as a campaign platform is intended to appeal to the largest possible audience while providing sound bites that are easily learned and repeated by the affected public. But for physicians, who are often overlooked in the major bullet points, how will President Obama’s initiatives directly affect …
By PA State Rep. Josh Shapiro
When the 2008 World Series Champions Philadelphia Phillies needed a player to strengthen their lineup, the coaches often turned to the minor leagues to scout for the next best thing. On the farm team, players train and practice before moving up the ranks to the major league.
Smart government should also look toward the future to anticipate problems before they become crises, training the farm team today to solve the challenges of tomorrow.
Pennsylvanians of all ages will face sharply higher health care costs in a …
By Congressman John Adler (NJ-03)
America’s health care system is broken. This year, the total of all health care spending will reach $2.3 trillion, which equals more than $7,500 per American. The system is strained to its limits, and unless bold action is taken, health care costs will continue to increase, while middle class families’ access to quality health care declines.
We need to ensure that our country continues the tradition of keeping the best and brightest individuals in the field of medicine. Too many doctors are leaving the health care field …
By Michael Nissenbaum, CPA.
Once seen as impervious to the global financial crisis, physicians have now begun to feel the brunt of the economic downturn. Many primary care physicians and specialists report seeing fewer patients today, as compared to one year ago.
Parents defer optional pediatric visits, while other patients postpone or cancel procedures typically used to exhaust remaining deductibles at year’s end. For example, gastroenterologists who previously had end-of-year waiting lists for colonoscopies report having immediate availability at the close of 2008. Healthcare consumers are choosing not to move ahead with …
In our personal lives we are accustomed to signing contracts full of “fine print” and “legalese”: technical legal language that is not readily understood or appreciated except with the aid of an attorney such as credit card agreements, software licenses, insurance contracts, home closing documents. Much of the time these contracts are mass produced and cannot be altered, so we don’t waste time reading them.
However, in professional medical practice, there are documents that are “made to order” – drafted by an attorney upon request. These include: physician employment agreements; shareholders’ …
By Jonathan Teich, M.D.
Physicians can do much to facilitate the selection and adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and e-prescribing systems, including clinical decision support (CDS) technologies that bring important information to the physician’s attention just when it is most needed.
CDS has been shown to produce very significant improvements in quality, safety, efficiency and cost when properly implemented; however, sometimes it is not utilized to its full effectiveness, due to barriers related to design and communication. The physician champion participates in design, selection, testing, and communication to others, and plays a vital role …
By Steven A. Eisenberg
“Doc are you telling me you built a time machine . . . out of a Delorean? The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style.” Exchange between Dr. Emmett L. Brown and Marty McFly, Back to the Future.
For lawyers representing health care providers, there are days where we feel like we are getting into our Delorean, ready to take a trip back in time. Why? Because the landscape is looking very much like …
Bill Clinton made an effort, albeit unsuccessful, to advance his healthcare reform agenda. George W. Bush didn’t get very far, either. Now, after outlining plans during his two-year campaign, it’s President Barack Obama’s turn to try to implement his vision for healthcare reform.
Healthcare reform as a campaign platform is intended to appeal to the largest possible audience while providing sound bites that are easily learned and repeated by the affected public. But for physicians, who are often overlooked in the major bullet points, how will President Obama’s initiatives directly affect …
Central to the nation’s health care reform agenda is the principle of value-based reform – restructuring provider payment incentives to control volume growth and to optimize efficiency, quality and access. Four value-based payment methodologies are currently receiving considerable attention from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), and may shape physician reimbursement in the near future: bundled payments, gainsharing, the use of the medical home to coordinate care, and pay-for-performance arrangements. This month, bundled payment pilots are being launched around the country. …
Meeting the criteria involves more than just the care of the clinical condition of the resident. It involves every level of service delivery in the facility, including the physician.
The physician’s knowledge and ability to document a history and physical will directly determine successful reimbursement for services rendered.
