Gyrodyne Company of America Inc., a New York-based real estate investment trust, has agreed to buy Fairfax (VA) Medical Center for $13.2 million. Fairfax Medical Center, which includes two four-story buildings on 3.5 acres, is home to 28 medical-related tenants, including imaging center specialists and opticians. Gyrdoyne was attracted to the medical property because of its closeness to an HCA Inc.-owned surgical center and Inova Health System's Fairfax and Fair Oaks hospitals.
As a radiologist in Illinois, Imran Qureshi, MD, won't do procedures such as angiograms without the latest technology. But those medical standards seemed like luxuries when he spent a week in war-torn Gaza. Qureshi was part of a medical relief team made up of Muslim physicians and surgeons from across the U.S. who traveled to Gaza on the heels of a three-week Israeli offensive. Qureshi spent seven days in Gaza with 10 other U.S. doctors organized by the Lombard-based Islamic Medical Association of North America. "It was a broken-down medical care system," said Qureshi, who practices at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora. "Compared to what we have here, it was very primitive."
Obstetrics and Gynecology Services, P.A., a six-physician practice in Minnesota, is offering a free preventive visit for current patients who've been laid off and lost their health insurance. K. Anthony Shibley, MD, said he's seeing about two patients a day who've lost their jobs and are rushing to get an appointment before their insurance runs out. "We know that staying current with preventive care not only keeps patients healthy, but also cuts down on future healthcare costs," Shibley told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "None of us at the practice feel it's the right thing to do to just cut them loose."
Massachusetts General Hospital waited four days before alerting Boston health authorities that a wave of gastrointestinal illness was sweeping through patients and staff. The delay is an apparent violation of rules requiring prompt reporting of suspected infectious disease clusters. Anita Barry, MD, the city's director of communicable disease control, said that the hospital "dropped the ball" in failing to report the illnesses sooner. Her agency will have discussions with the hospital about preventing such episodes in the future, she said.
The following are some conflict-reducing techniques outlined during Physician Health Services' seminar "Managing Workplace Conflict: Improving Personal Effectiveness" held in November 2008.
The techniques provide an overview of how to effectively reduce conflict in a healthcare setting by outlining how both sides can handle the problem to reach a peaceful conclusion:
Review the facts:
How does your story differ from the other side's?
Where do your data come from?
Know your assumptions
Realize it takes two to tango
Use honesty
Inquire, inquire Delay discussion when necessary
Handle emotions with care:
Is there too much emotion or too little?
Don't counterpunch
Know when to back off
Sense when your temper is rising and practice self-calming
Work with meanings:
Reframe the problem
Brainstorm possible solutions
Define mutually acceptable outcomes
See and express the problem as a neutral consultant might
Show respect
Adapted from Physician Health Services' seminar "Managing Workplace Conflict: Improving Personal Effectiveness." This article originally ran in the February 2009 issue ofThe Doctor's Office, a HealthLeaders Media publication.
With a stroke of his pen, President Barack Obama on Tuesday effectively eliminated physicians' biggest barrier to widespread EHR adoption.
For years physicians have cited the costs of implementation as a rationale for delaying adoption—including in our own Industry Survey—and considering the average initial investment somewhere in the $30,000 range, it has been a legitimate obstacle for most practices.
Not anymore. The American Recovery and Investment Act sets aside $19 billion to support healthcare IT, including up to $42,000 for each individual provider.
Here's how it gets doled out: Physicians who are "meaningful" EHR users can receive up to $18,000 if they are eligible in 2011 or 2012 ($15,000 or less if the first year is after that). Payment ceilings drop to $12,000 in year two, $8,000 in year three, $4,000 in year four, and $2,000 in year five. Payment limitations are 25% higher for eligible providers in areas designated as health professional shortage areas, and the incentives do not apply to hospital-based physicians.
Physicians wanted federal help with the healthcare IT costs, and here it is. Problem solved?
Not quite. It's better to think of EHR adoption as a starting point than a finish line, says David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA, senior advisor for the American Academy of Family Physicians and chair of the ASTM International E31Technical Committee on Healthcare Informatics. The real goal should be to improve quality and coordination of healthcare, not just to outfit every physician with new technology. The stimulus package's ultimate effectiveness depends on how some of the details in the provisions are executed in relation to that long-term goal.
For instance, the range of products eligible for incentive payments will make a significant difference. "One of the keys to the bill's success is to make sure that new and innovative products are allowed to participate in this marketplace and that the monies are spent toward some of those innovations, which I think will lower costs," says Kibbe.
Many of the traditional products, including those endorsed by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, have been experimental and difficult to integrate. If the scope is too narrow, physicians' concerns about interoperability and effectiveness, which have previously been overshadowed by cost concerns, could reinstall some hesitancy.
The details will be up in the air, however, until President Obama appoints a Secretary of Health and Human Services and other key players, such as the newly-created Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
But time is of the essence. The bill is designed to make physicians act relatively quickly—in 2015, physicians without a meaningful EHR will receive only 99% of payments for professional services. The next year, another percentage point is shaved off, and another after that.
Physicians have been taking a wait-and-see approach long enough. The money is on the way; it's time to start shopping.
Elyas Bakhtiari is a managing editor with HealthLeaders Media. He can be reached at ebakhtiari@healthleadersmedia.com.
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