News From Around the Web
> Staffing-firm searches for temporary nurse practitioners and physician assistants are on the rise, but there may not be enough of these professionals to go around, Medical Economics reported. Article
> NPR discusses the importance of encouraging patients to blog about illness and dying. Post
> Illinois physicians are challenging a new bill that would allow psychologists to prescribe medication, the Pantagraph reported. Article
Provider News
> The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Office of Inspector General warns that physician-owned distributorships (PODs) that sell implantable medical devices are full of opportunities to enrich referring physicians with illegal kickbacks, FierceHealthcare reported. Article
Health Insurance News
> When it comes to payment reform, insurers can't simply snap their fingers and make all doctors, hospitals and other providers completely alter the way they've been operating for years, wrote FierceHealthPayer's Dina Overland. But they can, she says, help initiate new payment methods and work to recruit providers to these new models. Commentary
Health IT News
> According to a report from the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has begun auditing providers attesting to Meaningful Use of their electronic health record systems before doling out incentive payments, signaling what appears to be a shift in policy, FierceEMR reported. Article
And Finally… A doctor's top cringeworthy comments from patients. Can you relate? Post