thinks

Regulators have been asking questions about Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) for some time. Medicare pays these private companies millions of dollars a year--roughly $300 million annually according to the GAO--to investigate patient complaints and improve care at clinics, hospitals and nursing homes around the country. But (perhaps predictably) not everybody thinks they are doing a very good job. The Senate Finance Committee has launched a wider probe of the 53 registered QIOs …

Johnson & Johnson is probably not planning on backing out of its merger with Guidant, according to insiders close to the transaction. Instead the company wants to renegotiate the $24.4 billion price tag it agreed on earlier for the Indianapolis-based device maker. The tough tactics may backfire, however, and lead to a legal battle between the two companies. The clear factor behind the decision, according to most analysts, was this summer's recall of 88,000 defibrillators and nearly …

Investor's Business Daily takes a look at the economics of building the nation's health IT network and thinks about what the transition to a paperless system may mean in the future. Forrester analyst Eric Brown says the benefits may transcend the numbers game most people focus on. "Imagine if Americans have a 10-year medical history in electronic form, not just free text, but coded and usable. We don't know what we will find." Story

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it will cut physician reimbursement rates by 4.3 percent on Monday. CMS said the cuts are necessary because of recent increases in overall Medicare spending. Under US law, payments to physicians and other healthcare providers must be adjusted downward to help control spending as the program's overall costs increase. The announcement had been anticipated by doctors groups, which have warned that many doctors may reduce the number of …

Billy Tauzin, head of the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, said drug companies are considering adopting a new code of conduct which would place some limits on the content of industry ads. Tauzin told reporters he thinks new rules could be in place as soon as June or July. According to sources, the proposed code would be modeled after one used by ad agencies. They said the industry will probably rely on an internal review board to review the accuracy and appropriateness of new ads.

- see this story from The New York Times