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August 2009
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Volume 3, Issue 15
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InforMed Society
Offical E-Newsletter of the Medical Society
Keeping you InforMed about the latest health care news!
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Some states still prohibit hospitals from hiring doctors; physicians want to keep it that way
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Medical associations in California and Texas have been
battling legislation that would allow rural hospitals to directly hire
doctors -- a move some physicians say threatens to undermine their
independent medical judgment and hinder patient care.
Most states allow for direct hospital employment of physicians -- a
growing trend in recent years as doctors increasingly seek more
financial stability. California and Texas, however, are among only a
handful of states that generally prohibit hospitals from employing
doctors, under long-standing laws aimed at preventing corporate
interference with the practice of medicine. Hospitals have sought the right to hire doctors in the Golden and Lone
Star states, saying the changes are necessary to recruit doctors to
underserved areas. Read more... |
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Senate health reformers work toward consensus bill during break |
As Congress broke for its August recess, a bipartisan
group of six key Senate Finance Committee members were unable to hammer
out a consensus health system reform proposal, despite some intense
last-minute discussions and face time with President Obama.
That leaves the Senate with just half of a comprehensive bill and
breaks the Democratic leadership's original deadline for holding a
floor vote on a measure. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee approved its version of a reform measure July 15 by a
party-line vote, and leaders initially hoped to marry that bill with a
bipartisan Finance product before the recess.
But that doesn't mean the work stops until lawmakers return. "Senators have arranged to continue talking, and staff will continue
their hard work," said Jennifer Donohue, a Finance Committee majority
aide. "They will spend valuable time in their home states, listening to
and learning from their constituents."
Read more...
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Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.
Henry Ford
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Featured Business
The Bureau of Medical Economics has been serving the medical community since
1951. The agency was originally instituted by the physician members of the
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hard core collection tactics that prevailed in the poorly regulated collection
industry.
www.bmecollect.com
(602) 252-3469
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ACT Kids Health Fair
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A HUGE thanks to those who have volunteered their valuable time to the ACT Kids Health Fair. We still need more volunteers!! Register at actkidshealthfair.org by August 24th to volunteer on September 12th!! |
| PACeHR is seeking an Executive Director |
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In addition to possessing the vision, inspiration, experience and stamina of an entrepreneurial leader, the Executive Director must be knowledgeable about the Arizona provider communities, have an thorough understanding of electronic health record technology and federal HIT programs, and have excellent business acumen and start-up managerial skills. Because this is a new enterprise, the Executive Director is expected initially to be able to perform or manage many of the functions of the business, such as marketing, sales, and user and customer support, until the business base is robust enough to warrant hiring additional staff to perform these functions.
The ideal candidate will have strong strategic planning skills, have a positive track record of accomplishment in the health or information technology field, possess knowledge of current electronic health record technology, be able to articulate a dynamic and clear vision and business strategy for the organization, and have demonstrated the ability to lead a high performing organization that meets or exceeds key performance metrics. For more information, please visit the career listing here. |
Chaotic working conditions wear down primary care physicians
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A chaotic work environment -- with insufficient time for
proper patient care and lack of control over work -- takes a toll on
primary care physicians.
More than half of these physicians feel time pressure during office
visits, while 48% said their work pace is chaotic and 78% said they
have little control over their work. The analysis of 422 family
physicians and general internists in 119 clinics was reported in the
July 7 Annals of Internal Medicine.
The California and Texas medical associations don't dispute the need
to address shortages. But they say there are other ways to recruit
doctors without thwarting medical independence, such as reducing
medical student debt and increasing residency slots.
The employment legislation proposed in California would do nothing
to alleviate physician shortages, said Brett Michelin, California
Medical Assn. associate director of government affairs. "It just
changes the economics."
Read complete article...
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Practices see slow progress in instant claims adjudication
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Real-time adjudication, which allows a claim to be
submitted to an insurer and settled before a patient leaves the office,
seems like something physicians, patients and insurers can support.
Physicians who use it can shorten the revenue cycle and reduce bad
debt. Patients like it because they don't get a surprise bill weeks
after receiving care. Even insurers like it, because administrative
costs of billing and handling inquiries about claims are reduced.
But real-time claims adjudication has barely made an impact. By at
least one insurer's reading, fewer than 2% of claims are settled this
way. While real-time claims adjudication sounds simple, implementing it
can be complicated and can require a physician's office to change how
it handles billing and collections.
Those submitting claims for real-time adjudication find that in
almost half the cases, the claim cannot be processed immediately and is
handled later by the insurer. Although this might not require
additional work for office staff, the low yield is a factor
discouraging physicians from participating. Meanwhile, without a
standard adjudication system, physicians may have to customize their
processes for each different insurer.
Read more...
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Prescription drug sharing among teens widespread
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A new survey reveals that 1 in 5 teenagers shares acne medications,
antihistamines, birth control pills, and other prescription drugs, and
most do not tell their physician about it.
This trend is troubling in terms of its prevalence and because of
its potential risks, which include abuse, addiction, antibiotic
resistance, and birth defects, Richard Goldsworthy, PhD, director,
Research and Development, The Academic Edge, Inc, Bloomington, Indiana,
told Medscape Psychiatry.
The findings suggest "a clear opportunity" for physicians and other
healthcare providers, as a part of standardized care, to simply ask
young patients whether they have shared a prescription medicine, said
Dr. Goldsworthy, adding that there may be a future need for more a
widespread public awareness campaign.
The study was published online August 3 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
More information...
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New review endorses CV benefits of fish oil
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A new review concludes that there is extensive evidence from three
decades of research that fish oils, or more specifically the omega-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) contained in them, are beneficial
for everyone.
This includes healthy people as well as those with heart disease -
including postmyocardial infarction (MI) patients and those with heart
failure, atherosclerosis, or atrial fibrillation - say Dr Carl J Lavie (Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, LA) and colleagues in their paper published online August 3, 2009, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
"We reviewed everything that was published on omega-3 that was
clinically important, and the major finding is that there are a
tremendous amount of data to support the benefits of omega-3, not just
as a nutritional supplement - people have known that for years - but
evidence that it prevents and treats many aspects of cardiovascular
disease," Lavie told heartwire
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Read complete article...
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FDA approves Morphine/Naltrexone to treat moderate to severe pain
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved morphine sulfate and naltrexone hydrochloride extended-release capsules (Embeda,
King Pharmaceuticals, Inc) for once- or twice-daily use in the
management of moderate to severe pain when continuous, around-the-clock
opioid analgesic therapy is warranted for an extended period.
The capsules contain morphine pellets with a sequestered inner core
of the opioid antagonist naltrexone that is released when the product
is crushed or chewed, thereby discouraging tampering and drug abuse.
"The development of formulations like Embeda that employ
technologies designed to reduce drug liking and euphoria associated
with non-medical uses could potentially change how chronic pain is
treated. Prescribers and patients have been hoping and waiting for
safer medicines to treat chronic pain," said Nathaniel Katz, MD,
president of analgesic research and adjunct assistant professor, Tufts
University, Medford, Massachusetts, in a company news release.
Approval of the product was based on data from 12 clinical studies,
including a phase 3 study showing that its use provided significant
pain relief compared with placebo in patients with severe pain caused
by osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.
Morphine/naltrexone capsules were well-tolerated in patients
receiving up to 1 year of therapy, demonstrating an overall safety
profile consistent with opioid drugs as a class. Adverse events
included constipation, nausea, and somnolence.
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ACIP updates recommendations for routine poliovirus vaccination
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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has updated
its recommendations for routine poliovirus vaccination and published
them in the August 7 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The goals of the update are to highlight the importance of the
booster dose in children older than 4 years, to extend the minimum
interval between dose 3 and dose 4 from 4 weeks to 6 months, to include
a new precaution regarding use of minimum intervals in the first 6
months of life, and to recommend schedules for poliovirus vaccination
with specific combination vaccines.
"On June 17, 1999, ACIP recommended that all poliovirus vaccine
administered in the United States be an inactivated poliovirus vaccine
(IPV) beginning January 1, 2000," the report states. "This policy was
implemented to eliminate the risk for vaccine-associated paralytic
poliomyelitis, a rare condition that has been associated with use of
the live oral poliovirus vaccine.... Since 1999, no [oral poliovirus
vaccine] has been distributed in the United States."
The 1999 ACIP recommendations specified a routine IPV vaccination
schedule of 4 doses given at ages 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months,
and 4 to 6 years, with 4 weeks being the minimum interval between all
IPV doses. In the United States, 3 different combination vaccines
containing IPV have been licensed for routine use since the 2000 ACIP
recommendation was made in 1999.
More information...
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