Medical practice

Evidence is piling up, in study after study, that it just makes sense to limit work shifts for residents and interns. In today's example, which comes from the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at Yale-New Haven Hospital collected data on treatment and outcomes …

A group of Tuscaloosa, AL-based physicians are suing HealthSouth to stop the pending sale of one of its outpatient surgery centers. The physician group, Surgery Center Partners, contends that when it agreed to sell its outpatient surgical facilities, HealthSouth didn't honor the terms of the partnership contract with their regional surgery center, HealthSouth Surgical Center of Tuscaloosa. HealthSouth has agreed to sell its 139 surgery centers and three surgical hospitals to Texas Pacific …

Working with an outside information technology vendor, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has begun a program designed to identify patients whose care isn't meeting clinical guidelines. The vendor, MDdatacor, will analyze data from EMRs, transcribed office notes, lab results, and cross-reference that with the plan's pharmacy and claims data. BCBS plans to use the analysis as part of its pay-for-performance program. BCBS will begin by offering the tools to a subset of its physicians, …

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against two Chicago-area medical practices, contending that the two refused primary care to Medicaid patients in an effort to get them into their higher-priced affiliated emergency departments. The suit also charges that the clinics, Carle Clinic Association of Urbana, IL, and Christie Clinic of Champaign, IL, wanted to discourage Medicaid patients from visiting their facilities. According to the suit, the two clinics now employ …

There's a hepatitis C scare on in New York City, where authorities have asked 4,500 people to get tested after their contact with a local anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist, who hasn't been named, may have spread the disease as he or she put patients under. To date, three people treated by the physician have been diagnosed with hep C. Tests suggest that the patients picked up the illness while getting intravenous anesthesia meds during outpatient procedures. However, it's not clear …

The AMA has decided to go to war against insurers who impose fines on doctors if patients use out-of-network labs. While the dispute began with UnitedHealth Group, which has set plans in motion to impose such fines, the AMA is concerned enough about the trend that it is instituting a broader campaign opposing the institution of such fines by any insurer. The group is supporting …

When talk of retail clinics first emerged, most assumed that their primary business would be cash-based. After all, if you're going to charge low prices, you might not want to take on the expense of collecting insurance reimbursement. But for many retail clinic operators, that's not how its shaping up. The most recent example comes from RediClinic, which has just announced that it will accept traditional Medicare coverage at its 46 U.S. locations. The company already has contracts in …

In Miami, medical students all get a briefing in the sometimes perplexing financial realities of their chosen profession--and some of them are a bit shocked by what they hear. For about 10 years, students at the University of Miami med school have spent a day at the headquarters of health insurer AvMed getting briefed on the latest financial issues facing practicing physicians. One-fourth of the med school's third-year class visits with health plan executives every three months. This …

New Orleans physicians have been struggling since Hurricane Katrina, with practices and hospitals closed and the list of uninsured patients remaining high. Under these conditions, it's hardly surprising that they would want to leave the city. But the city doesn't want to see them go. So with the help of the state of Louisiana and the federal government, the city has developed a program which pays them to stay. The Greater New Orleans Health Services Corps has begun offering incentives of …

The American Medical Association has begun its latest no-holds-barred campaign to make Congress cancel a scheduled Medicare reimbursement cut. As part of its campaign, AMA is publicizing the results of its survey of 9,000 physicians, which found that more than half would to limit the number of Medicare patients they accept if the planned 10 percent cut is implemented. (Sure, there's a bit of grandstanding going on here--but the pain is real, too.) Patients aren't the only ones who would …