IOM RELEASES REPORT ON GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION: The Institute of Medicine released a comprehensive report on the current GME financing programs with specific recommendations on how to improve the system for the future. While there has been a lot of talk about the report's findings on whether there is a shortage of physicians, there is no doubt about the misdistribution of the medical workforce in the country, and the need to bolster the ratio of primary care providers to specialists in training programs.

CMS ISSUES FINAL RULE ON CEHRT FOR 2014 REPORTING PERIOD:
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued its final ruleregarding changes to the meaningful use stage timeline and the definition of certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) to allow options in the use of CEHRT for the EHR reporting period in 2014.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS LAY OUT SEPTEMBER PLANS: In August House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy sent a memo to the Republican caucus outlining the September legislative agenda. The three items Members "may wish to factor into your District events" while traveling across the districts include (1) jobs and the economic growth; (2) lowering costs on gas and groceries; and (3) healthcare. The reference to 'healthcare" is to focus on the negative impact to small business from the roll-out of Obamacare.  A copy of the memo is available here.

RED STATES PRESSURED TO EXPAND MEDICAID AS CARE CONTRASTS EMERGE: Pressure is building on states to go along with the expansion of Medicaid benefits under the Affordable Care Act as new studies and financial reports from health care companies point out stark differences between states treating more poor Americans and those that aren't. Read more here.

MEDICARE DRUG PREMIUMS TO INCREASE IN 2015: The AP (8/1) reported that, for the second year in a row, Medicare has announced that prescription drug plan premiums will rise. Medicare officials have said the 2015 average drug premium per month will be $32. The increase "comes amid worries over the future impact of costly new medications."

The Hill (8/1, Al-Faruque) reported that an additional report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said that "federal spending on Medicare Part D was $50 billion less in 2013 than the agency had previously estimated," which was attributed to "lower spending of the Medicare Part D program on more generic drugs that have recently become available and fewer brand name drugs that have come to market," in addition to "lower enrollment" than predicted.

ACU CLINICAL WEBSITE UPDATES: We have been working hard update our Asthma Information pages. ACU's website provides a number of resources available to clinicians, patients, caregivers, and school staff to help control asthma, including:

• A Comprehensive Asthma Resource List,
• Seven Steps to Reduce Indoor Asthma Triggers,
• Developing an Asthma Clinical Decision Support Tool,
• A podcast for What Families Can Do about Asthma,
• And many more on our asthma resource page.

Feel free to browse our website to learn something new!

HEAT AND ASTHMA CAN BE A DANGEROUS COMBINATION. Asthma-related visits to emergency rooms have almost tripled in recent days. Read more here.

SPANISH LANGUAGE RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR SENIOR CAREGIVERS: NIH's National Institute on Aging has made a series of free Spanish-language, consumer-friendly brochures called Vivir Mejor la Tercera Edad available for clinicians who work with Hispanic elders.  These brochures are brief, providing basic information and guidance. To see a full list of topics available in Spanish, you can visit at our Spanish publications online at: http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/spanish. Some of the topics available are for high blood pressure, kidney disease, menopause, and healthy eating after 50.

GAO REPORT ON PREVENTATIVE CARE COST EFFECTIVENESS: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report on the cost-effectiveness and/or cost savings of preventive services and whether or not the service had been recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.  In doing so, GAO "conducted a literature review of articles about U.S. preventive services in meta-analyses or comparative studies in peer-reviewed journals published between January 2007 and April 2014 that addressed cost-effectiveness or cost savings."

CLINICS ATTEND TO UNDERSERVED PEOPLE'S HEALTH NEEDS: William A. Storms, a 67-year-old formerly homeless man, doesn't need to go to an emergency room to see a doctor anymore, because he has been a patient at the federally funded community health center for a decade. Read more here.

HOSPITALS ENGAGE PATIENTS TO REDUCE NON-EMERGENCY ED USE: A new program piloted by a Baltimore hospital and a Maryland healthcare non-profit aims to reduce emergency department (ED) use among patients with non-urgent or chronic conditions, according to Sinai Hospital. Read more here.

STANDALONE EMERGENCY ROOMS GROW, BUT FACE BACKLASH: As free-standing emergency rooms (ERs) grow in number, they face a potential backlash over their high prices and allegations of fraud, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Read more here.

MEDICAID INNOVATION ACCELERATOR PROGRAM (IAP): The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officially launched the Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP) in July. The goal of IAP is to improve health and health care for Medicaid beneficiaries by supporting states' efforts to accelerate new payment and service delivery reforms. Through these improvements, CMS hopes to reduce costs for the Medicaid program and, by extension, the health system more generally. CMS is inviting stakeholders to join in an in-person conversation designed to share thinking about the work that will take place under the IAP and to get your ideas and feedback.

The dates and locations for these regional meetings are as follows:

• September 10th - Denver, Colorado
• September 15th - Baltimore, Maryland 
• September 25th - Chicago, Illinois.