Physicians are working together to form larger groups or becoming employees of hospitals as they try to deal with what many see as a financial squeeze from tighter reimbursement policies by insurers and government health programs. Some physicians are giving up private practice to join corporate America, or they're adding new services to boost fee income.
Weeks after a critical audit of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's healthcare department, Illinois auditors have found a series of fiscal management issues inside the agency. The Auditor's office cited 15 serious concerns in its annual review of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, ranging from untimely healthcare payments to long delays in producing financial statements to paying claims from the wrong fund. The new audit came about a month after a special audit requested by lawmakers found a series of issues with how the department makes Medicaid payments.
As medical tourism continues to grow, the American Medical Assocaciation is providing guidance to patients about traveling abroad for care and to employers about covering such procedures.
The AMA approved the guidelines at its annual policymaking meeting in Chicago, and representatives said about 150,000 Americans in 2006 received some form of medical care overseas. About half were for "medically necessary procedures," according to AMA representatives.
Hospitals and doctors who make medical mistakes will no longer be able to bill the state of Massachusetts or its largest private health insurer for costs related to fixing the error, according to policies outlined separately by the state government and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts. The state and Blue Cross policies apply to 28 types of surgical, medication, and other errors, and the policy changes by the state are part of a national effort to reduce healthcare errors. Analysts said the move to restrict reimbursements represents the boldest attempt by any state to use payments to reduce life-threatening errors that are considered preventable.
A government-sponsored survey of the use of computerized patient records by doctors points to two seemingly contradictory conclusions: The report found that doctors who use electronic health records say overwhelmingly that such records have helped improve the quality and timeliness of care, yet fewer than one in five of the nation's doctors has started using such records. The survey also found that electronic records were used in less than 9% of small offices with one to three doctors, where nearly half of the country's doctors practice medicine.
A series of three eight-hour discussions focusing on healthcare reform showed that 88% of the participants put a high priority on all Kansas residents having some health insurance coverage. The forums also turned up strong support for preventive healthcare, for funding those costs through taxes, and for making sure everyone has a health professional who would oversee the person's healthcare. Each of the three discussions included about 30 people who were asked to consider different approaches to healthcare reform.