medicare patients
MGMA: MD groups limit Medicare patient access
When reading this, bear in mind that a group practice trade association has its own motives in publicizing such a study. That being said, the following data is worth a look. According to recently... Read more...
Large care intensity variations exist between hospitals
A new study has found that the amount of resources used in the care of chronically ill varies widely from hospital to hospital. To conduct the study, researchers looked at variations in care at... Read more...
Senate proposes 6-month break from doctor Medicare cut
For months now, Congress members have argued over what to do about the 10 percent cut to... Read more...
Study: Elderly not getting good care
A new study suggests that vulnerable elderly Medicaid and Medicare patients aren't getting great care. The study, which looked at 43 types of care received by 100,000 community-dwelling elderly in... Read more...
Study: Home care agencies could improve responsiveness
Most patients are fairly satisfied with their home care agency's service, but agencies could improve their satisfaction if their home office did a better job of responding to patient requests and... Read more...
Studies: Resident shift limits don't lower mortality
Over the past several months, I've reported on a few studies which suggest that long shifts for physician-trainees breed medical errors. Now, some new studies have come to fruition which argue... Read more...
AMA fights physician Medicare cuts
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 …
... Read more...Medicare may stop paying for hospital errors
Medicare has set plans to stop paying for 13 common conditions typically created by hospital errors, putting out a proposal that could be implemented late next year. Conditions cited include catheter-related urinary tract infections, bed sores, MRSA infections, wrong-site surgery and surgical site infections. Not only would such a policy have a potentially significant effect on hospitals, it could provoke the institution of similar policies by commercial health plans, which often follow …
... Read more...Study: Physicians choose one-third of hospitals
A new survey suggests that while consumers are sometimes involved, physicians still have a substantial influence when it's time to choose a hospital. The study, which appears this month in the Archives of Surgery, looked at 500 randomly selected Medicare patients, averaging 78 years old, who had had repair of an abdominal aneurysm, heart valve replacement or cancers of lung, stomach and bladder. Upon analyzing the data, researchers found that doctors were the picked the hospital …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Mental health parity progresses; Aetna offers physician pricing; and much more...
> The federal mental health parity bill continues to progress, with the pivotal House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee holding a hearing on the matter. Article
> Aetna is rolling a program under which patients will have physician-specific pricing information. …
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