It’s Tuesday and time for our new weekly healthcare hot topic report. Starting this Tuesday and continuing every week thereafter, MediPro will provide a list of links to recent “healthcare hot topic” articles and blog entries. Each article or healthcare blog will give vital information to put doctors and their practices in the know about important medical, physician and health news. Whether you’re eating lunch or taking a break, take a few minutes to enjoy this quick recap we have put together for you.
Physician Groups Comment on Medicare Plan to Release Claims Data (8/9/11)
Read about the Medicare plan to release claims data, how physician groups responded to the proposed rule and view the complete comment letter.
“The American Medical Association and 81 other physician organizations have submitted comments on a proposed rule published on June 8 to make available standardized extracts of Medicare claims data to measure the performance of providers and suppliers. The medical associations support much of the proposed rule, but ask for numerous clarifications.”
Why your medical practice should adopt social media (8/9/11)
It’s becoming more important as technology advances that we advance with it. This blog entry by “Social Media’s leading physician voice” Kevin Pho, M.D. explains 7 ideas that will help physicians understand why their practice should adopt social media.
“One of the reasons I think many have a hard time persuading docs to adopt social media, is because docs don’t understand what they can do with social media or how they can use it for their practice. … For those that don’t quite understand this new medium, I’ve written seven ideas that may help you understand why it might be good for your practice to adopt social media.”
17 million received free Medicare preventive services in first half of 2011 (8/11/11)
Learn more about how free Medicare preventive services are keeping patients healthy and enabling them to live longer.
“More than half of patients with traditional Medicare coverage received one or more preventive services since January without having to pay out-of-pocket costs, officials for the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services said. The health system reform law allowed the Medicare program to waive patient fees for certain preventive care starting in 2011.”
CMS Proposes Rule for Eligibility Procedures for State Exchanges (8/12/11)
The CMS has proposed a new eligibility rule designed to minimize opportunities for fraud and abuse. Read more information about the rule here.
“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule governing eligibility procedures for obtaining health care coverage through state health insurance exchanges. The rule is one of three being published in coming days to implement provisions of the Affordable Care Act.”
Revealing their medical errors: Why three doctors went public (8/15/11)
Trending all over Twitter yesterday morning, read 3 doctor’s stories of how they owned up to their medical mistakes.
“Few physicians talk publicly about their medical errors, but a growing number are benefiting from programs dedicated to helping doctors deal with the emotional turmoil that often comes in the wake of adverse events. Jo Shapiro, MD, helped start the Center for Professionalism & Peer Support at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in October 2008. There are 55 physicians and other health professionals at the hospital trained to offer emotional support to peers involved in cases of patient harm.”