The alarming statistics on prescription opioid overdoses are well known to medical professionals, thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s widely cited finding that deaths from opioid analgesics have increased fourfold since 1999.1 Half of all fatal drug overdoses now involve opioids prescribed by a doctor. Meanwhile, a lack of rigorous research…
In recent years, providers and practice groups have been worrying about Meaningful Use (MU) and gaining knowledge on using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to avoid payment penalties, earn incentives and increase practice efficiency. Now, with the release of the final rule for MACRA payment reform, physicians will have two options for payment paths:…
Take the challenge. B—Most employer insurance plans change on Jan. 1. Because of this, it is a best practice for medical office staff to ask if there is any change to a patient’s medical coverage. Even if the patient indicates there are no changes in coverage, staff should still request to review their insurance card….
An established patient is seen in the office for a scheduled visit with the rheumatologist at the start of the new year. What should the front desk staff do for all patients at the beginning of each year? Inform the patient that their co-pay is due prior to receiving treatment, and ask how they would…
(Reuters Health)—You might not get what you pay for when it comes to healthcare, a new study hints. A report in Health Affairs on May 2 found little association between how much physician practices charged and patients’ perceptions of their quality of care.1 “We’re asking consumers to make a lot of decisions about healthcare purchasing…
LONDON (Reuters)—Hospitals and doctors’ surgeries across England were forced to turn away patients and cancel appointments on Friday after a nationwide ‘ransomware’ cyber attack crippled some computer systems in the state-run health service. The U.K. National Health Service (NHS) said 16 organizations had been affected by the cyber attack but said it had not been…
(Reuters)—Health insurer Aetna Inc said on Wednesday it will exit the 2018 Obamacare individual insurance market in Delaware and Nebraska – the two remaining states where it offered the plans. Aetna had already said it would exit the individual commercial market in Virginia and Iowa, after pulling out of several other states last year. Aetna…
(Reuters Health)—Grating, cracking or popping sounds around joints may predict future arthritis, especially in the knees, according to a recent U.S. study. Among thousands of people with no knee pain who were followed for three years, one quarter had noisy knees yet they made up three quarters of the cases of symptomatic knee arthritis that…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—U.S. Republicans may be moving ahead with a vote to repeal Obamacare, but the uncertainty about what a national health law may look like is clouding insurers’ decisions on whether to stay in the individual insurance market in 2018. Republicans do plan to vote on the U.S. House of Representatives bill, the American…
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) that process Medicare Part B claims have begun informing providers of their participation status in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). This information is coming in the form of hard-copy letters that started mailing in late April and will continue…