Latest Publicly-funded health care Stories

Surgeon executive will cover health care, business strategy, public policy, breaking news and commentary Lake Mary, FL (PRWEB) May 16, 2013 Access MediQuip announced today that its CEO, Prakash Patel, M.D., is launching a blog at prakashpatelmd.com to cover issues and spark a dialogue about health care in general, surgical implants in particular, and other public policy and business issues trending today. “In my travels throughout the health care system, in business in general, as a...

Hospitals facing onslaught of challenges including recent 2 percent Medicare sequestration WAYNE, Pa. and ALPHARETTA, Ga., May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As hospitals and healthcare providers begin to face a vast array of reimbursement challenges in 2013, including the 2 percent Medicare reimbursement cuts that went into effect on April 1, 2013, they are looking to Precyse, a leader in Health Information Management (HIM) technology and services, for help. With its expert staffs and...

Dr. Frank G. Opelka offers remarks on the role of quality measures under a reformed Medicare physician payment policy. Washington, DC (PRWEB) May 07, 2013 The National Quality Forum (NQF) today testifies before the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, at a 10:00am hearing focused on options for repealing the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and reforming the Medicare physician payment system to reward quality and value. Frank G. Opelka, MD, FACS, will offer remarks on...

The increasing proportion of the population that received treatment for a specific medical condition – called "treated disease prevalence" -- along with higher spending per treated case accounted for most of the rise in health care spending in the U.S. between 1987 and 2009, according to a recent analysis. In the analysis, published in the May edition of Health Affairs, Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory's Rollins School of Public...

Slowdown in health care spending growth could save Americans $770 billion, study finds A slowdown in the growth of U.S. health care costs could mean that Americans could save as much as $770 billion on Medicare spending over the next decade, Harvard economists say. In a May 6 paper published in Health Affairs, David Cutler, the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics, and co-author Nikhil Sahni, a senior researcher in Harvard's Economics Department, point to several factors,...

U.S. emergency care costs may be more than twice previously published estimates, according to a new analysis that critiques those estimates, argues for improved accounting, and suggests considering the value of emergency care as well as total spending. Alternately praised in the aftermath of horrible tragedies as a heroic service and lamented in policy debates as an expensive safety net for people without primary care, emergency medicine is often a hot topic. Despite that importance, an...

Over one-third may switch doctors--if the price is right SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new HealthPocket consumer survey found that 34 percent of respondents are motivated to reduce their health plan costs versus keep their doctor. When survey takers were asked, "If changing from your doctor to another doctor could save you money on your health plan premium costs, how much would you have to save annually to make the switch?" over half of the 34 percent...

Patient access to care in jeopardy ST. PAUL, Minn., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) is opposing a payment change plan by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBS) scheduled to take effect May 1 that will slash payments to hospitals and have a particularly devastating effect on rural health care. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130307/MM73437LOGO ) MHA President and CEO Lawrence Massa described the payment change as...

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Long waits for insurance authorization allowing psychiatric patients to be admitted to the hospital from the emergency department waste thousands of hours of physician time, given that most requests for authorization are ultimately granted. A letter to be published in the May issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine argues that pre-authorization process is akin to health care "rationing by hassle factor" ("Insurance Prior...

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- About one-third of Latinos or 15 million people will be seeking new doctors for diabetes, hypertension, cancer and preventive services when they become eligible to receive or buy health care coverage under the new health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As the nation's Latino doctors come together this week for the 17(th) Annual Conference of the National Hispanic Medical Association, the implementation of the ACA...