Policy and Legislation
Cancer drug shortages are forcing treatment changes and delays that for some patients have led to worse outcomes, more therapy-related complications and higher costs, according to a national survey of health professionals published Thursday.
A report released in February found that state scope of practice laws and payment policies are two of the biggest challenges to expanding care provided by nurse practitioners.
Even though 2 percent reductions are scheduled to hit Medicare payments due to sequestration cuts beginning on April 1, a recent Standard & Poor's (S&P) report said the futures outlook for for-profit hospitals is stable.
The Congressional Budget Office's reduced estimate of the cost of an SGR repeal may offer an opportunity for the Congress to act, MedPAC said in its annual report to Congress.
A new report from non-profits Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) and the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3) finds that 29 states get a grade of "F" for their lack of laws to provide for healthcare cost transparency.
A report released last month by the Office of Inspector General found that about one-third of skilled nursing facilities chosen from a random sample were not meeting some of the requirements for Medicare funding.
Scott Gottlieb’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal argues that ObamaCare is making independent physician practices obsolete by forcing physicians to work for big hospitals. Although I mainly agree with Gottlieb’s observations, I’m more optimistic than he is, and less eager to point the finger at ObamaCare.
Several areas across the country are trying out community paramedicine programs in an effort to increase healthcare services and decrease healthcare costs.
With some healthcare providers now into their second year of meaningful use reporting, Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record payments were estimated at $12.3 billion paid to a total of 219,000 physicians and hospitals through February since the program's inception.
A bill to encourage mediation in disputes over medical errors is expected to be signed into law in what supporters say is a step -- if small -- in the direction of malpractice reform.