8 Top Hospital and Health System Trends of the Past Decade
1. Loosened cost controls. HMOs in the late 1990s had successfully slowed growth in healthcare spending, but by the end of that decade they had come to be regarded as heartless conservators of the bottom line. Managed care's tight controls began to loosen and "the negotiating power slipped back into the hands of the providers," says Dick Clarke, president of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Healthcare costs again began increasing faster than the general rate of inflation. "It's not clear yet how much of that will change if providers come under more pressure to contain prices," he says. 2. Healthcare IT. ...
Online Defamation and Libel: The Modern Faceless Crime
The hallmark of the Internet is its ability to increase the free exchange of ideas. The ease with which information is proliferated increases the damage caused by false or harmful information, stretching the bounds of defamation. The Internet gives the average person an opportunity to express their opinion, anonymously, well beyond any other venue. An individual now has the ability to publish statements and articles across the world in an instant, without the guidelines or checks and balances of traditional publishing. Thereafter, online erroneous statements may linger for months, or even years, almost impossible to recover, amend and remove. Internet ...
MedPAC Proposes Increases for Hospitals, Physicians; 0.6% Payment Increase for ASCs
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is proposing that Congress give hospitals that perform at higher levels in CMS' the pay-for-performance program a payment update of 2.4 percent in fiscal year 2011, based on the market basket index. Hospitals that don’t perform well on P4P would not get the payment update, a MedPAC official says. However, the commission is also proposing another adjustment to hospitals' payments to offset increases caused by coding improvements, the official says. These reductions, of up to 2 percent in fiscal years 2011-2013, would mean an aggregate inpatient update of 0.4 percent in fiscal 2011 for high performers ...
Ambulatory Surgery Center Outlook for 2010
With 2009 closed, the preparation for a successful 2010 is here. Most centers have considered the trends and utilization by surgeons and begun the budgeting process to establish goals and objectives for 2010. When setting those goals, the greatest factor for existing centers is capturing the appropriate cases from prior utilizers and recruiting new cases from surgeons seeking the efficiency of an ambulatory surgery center (ASC). Management team members need to assess their individual challenges at their center and work to contain cost, improve production and eliminate waste. Similarly, physician partners need to assess their role in the center in ...
Dr. Peter Colquhoun Discusses Four Opportunities for Ophthalmology at Surgery Centers in 2010
Peter Colquhoun, MD, a board-certified ophthalmologist at Southwest Michigan Eye Center in Battle Creek, Mich., and physician-owner of Brookside Surgery Center, also in Battle Creek, discusses four opportunities for ophthalmology in ASCs. Multi-focal implants. Although the price of lens implants are bundled into payments for cataract surgery, if a physician and patient select a higher-end multi-focal implant, such as Alcon's ReStor IOL or AMO ReZoom IOL, surgery centers, at least in Michigan, can balance bill a patient for the additional cost of the lens, says Dr. Colquhoun. Balance billing allows for cataract patients, who are often covered by Medicare, to ...
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Names National Science Award Winners
Three clinical and scientific thought-leaders in inflammatory bowel disease research were awarded the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's prestigious Annual National Science Awards at its 2009 Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Clinical & Research Conference in Hollywood, Fla., on Dec. 4, according to a CCFA news release. The award recipients were nominated by the CCFA's National Scientific Advisory Committee. The Henry D. Janowitz, MD, Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Burton I. Korelitz, MD, past chief of the division of gastroenterology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City for his career-long dedication to the discovery and understanding of ...
3 Tips for Reducing Delayed Claims in Surgery Centers
CPT copyright 2008 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. Mike McFadin, operations manager of national bill review at Sedgwick Claims Management Services, a third-party claims administrator and productivity management firm, and David Kessler, DC, MHA, medical director of Sedgwick CMS's Ohio managed care operations programs, provide three tips for reducing delayed and denied insurance claims in ASCs. 1. Use revenue code 278 for surgical implants. One of the most common reasons ASCs are asked to resubmit claims is for the use of inappropriate revenue codes for surgical implants. ASCs bill for ...
Proposed Health Reform Amendment Would Strengthen Medicare Advisory Board
The Independent Medicare Advisory Board, a more powerful version of MedPAC envisioned in the health reform bills, would have even greater powers under a new amendment sponsored by three senators, according to a release by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), one of the sponsors. Under the current version of the bill, the advisory board would recommend Medicare levels and those recommendations would go into effect automatically unless Congress voted to block them. The amendment would further extend the board's powers by: * removing exemptions from board actions for hospitals and hospices; * ensuring the board's authority over payment matters; * extending ...
#1 Priority for Your Front Office Team
A surgeon can be the best surgeon in the area or the world, for that matter. But, if his/her front office isn’t doing its job right, this expertise means nothing. It’s the equivalent of having the best quarterback on the field, but the front line can’t block, the running back can’t run and the receivers can’t catch. A team simply can’t win, with only one effective player. So how effective is your team? As in football, a front office must know the drills and apply them daily. First, they need good people skills. It’s a MUST that they always put the patient ...
National Eye Institute Report Find Sharp Rise in Myopia
A recent report by the National Eye Institute found a 66.4 percent increase in myopia among Americans since the 1970s, according to an American Academy of Ophthalmology news release. The report found that 47 million Americans aged 20 and older are myopic. The sharp rise is expected to continue impact vision quality as well as healthcare costs for many Americans, according to the AAO. Billions of dollars are spent annually on glasses and contact lenses, and the majority of LASIK and related refractive surgical procedures in the United States are performed to correct myopia. The AAO states that a clearer ...
Industry Updates
Nevada Governor Considers Dropping Out of Federal Medicaid ProgramNevada Governor Jim Gibbons has asked Health and Human Services Director Mike Willden...
Webinar Discusses Medical Malpractice, ASC Business and Legal TrendsOn Dec. 9, Medical Protective and ASC Communications presented a Webinar titled,...
Legal Issues for 2010The ambulatory surgery center industry (ASC) confronted both challenges and change...
Read More Posts From This CategoryHealthcare IT
Leveraging Technology, Data in Surgery Centers to Deliver Better Patient OutcomesASCs are under increasing pressure to capture, track and report key quality indicators...
Mobile technology should enhance work of human providersMODERN LIFE is a blur of motion and activity, with people constantly communicating...
The height of health ITEven health insurance giant WellPoint—with more than 35 million members and arguably...
Read More Posts From This CategoryHealth Buzz
Mock Surgery DayBrackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas is having a “Mock Surgery Day”...
Keratitis in the NewsKeratitis is an inflammation or irritation of the cornea, often characterized by...
Employer contributions shifting in consumer-driven health plansAmong the roughly 4% of covered Americans who have consumer-driven health plans (CDHP),...
Read More Posts From This CategoryFeatured products
Bausch & Lomb Introduces New IOLBausch & Lomb has introduced Crystalens AO, an aberration free accommodating...
Ophthalmic Laser Improves Accuracy of Cornea Tissue DissectionOphthalmic surgeons from the U.S. Air Force are the first in the Defense Department...
Access MediQuip Releases ‘Partners in Focus’ Provider PortalAccess MediQuip, a leading provider of outsourced implantable medical device management...
Read More Posts From This CategoryOR Management
R.A.C.E. to Be Safe Prevent OR Fires!There are a number of potential hazards that surgical staff must be aware of in their...
5 Tips for Growing ASC Volume from David Daniel, CEO of Lakeland Surgical & Diagnostic CenterOver the past several years, Lakeland (Fla.) Surgical & Diagnostic Center has...
Teamwork with prideThe OR can be “brought to life” by all of the people that spend their daily work...
Read More Posts From This CategoryTrade Shows
One case is one too manyI have been attending the annual meetings of the American Society of Anesthesiologists...
AAO Live10/24: Touched down in beautiful San Francisco around 12pm. The sun was bright,...
Passion, persistence, and personal experience yield a positive partnership in patient advocacy.An unusual event will take place in New Orleans at the annual meeting of the American...
Read More Posts From This CategorySyndicated Articles
Webinar Discusses Medical Malpractice, ASC Business and Legal TrendsOn Dec. 9, Medical Protective and ASC Communications presented a Webinar titled, “Ambulatory Surgery Centers — 2 Key Topics: 1. Medical Malpractice Industry Trends and 2. Key ASC Business and Legal Trends,” that highlighted several trends in medical malpractice and business and legal issues currently affecting ASCs. Note:Links to download... [Read more of this review]
N.Y. Comptroller: State Medicaid Lost $92M in Last Five YearsNew York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released audits that found the state Medicaid program lost at least $92 million due to improper payments, billing errors and poor record keeping, according to a report in the New York Times. One audit found that the Department of Health made $53 million in improper payments for patients who had been incorrectly... [Read more of this review]
American Diabetes Association revises diabetes guidelinesThe American Diabetes Association (ADA) has revised clinical practice recommendations for diabetes diagnosis to promote hemoglobin A1c as a faster, easier diagnostic test that could help reduce the number of undiagnosed patients and better identify patients with prediabetes. The new recommendations are published in the January supplement of Diabetes... [Read more of this review]
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