COLUMBIA, SC — The children of rural Williamsburg County don't have many pediatricians in town, but they do have one on TV because of a telemedicine program operated by MUSC. Now, state lawmakers want to expand telemedicine ? where doctors treat patients via video conference ? because they see it as a potential fix for some of South Carolina's health problems. Telemedicine, they say, offers the chance to give specialized medical care to poor residents in rural areas ? people who need it the most but don't have access to it. Last week, the S.C. House of Representatives approved a $22.7 billion budget, for the state's fiscal year that starts July 1, that includes $8 million to expand MUSC's telemedicine program.
Since starting his blog, KevinMD, nearly 10 years ago, Dr. Kevin Pho has become a rock star among the health care set, one of the few doctors recognizable by first name only. A primary care doctor, Dr. Pho presides over a social media empire that includes his blog, now a highly coveted publishing place for doctors and patients, a lively Facebook page and a nonstop Twitter stream that has become must-follow fodder for the medical Digirati. Now he and Susan Gay, a medical publisher, have written a book to help doctors do nearly the same. In "Establishing, Managing and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices," Dr. Pho and Ms. Gay offer highly organized key points, useful statistics and exuberant testimonials from doctors who have successfully leapt over the digital divide.
A new bill to increase federal regulation of hydrocodone painkillers has already picked up 42 bipartisan cosponsors. Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) are leading the charge in the House, introducing the Safe Prescribing Act on Wednesday, which would move hydrocodone medications - such as Vicodin - from a Schedule III to a Schedule II drug. The move would put them in line with other painkillers such as morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone and require the patient to present a doctor's written prescription in order to obtain the painkiller, among other protections. "Too many of our loved ones are dying every day from prescription drug overdoses and are abusing hydrocodone painkillers for non-medical purposes," Buchanan said in a press release.
Florida regulators won't penalize insurance companies that violate new health law consumer protections that take effect in January but will report them to the federal government, according to an agreement between the state and federal officials. Citing lack of money and legal authority, Pennsylvania's top insurance regulator hasn't decided whether his agency can enforce the provisions, which include some of the most popular elements of the 2010 federal health law, such as requiring insurers to provide coverage to all applicants regardless of their health status, prohibiting insurers from charging more based on gender or health, and greatly limiting what insurers can charge for premiums based on age.
WASHINGTON - Staffing agencies that find jobs for health care professionals should be required to obtain a license and hospitals must do more to prevent drug abuse and theft by workers, the Maryland state health department said Wednesday. The recommendations were included in a report issued in response to the case of a traveling health worker accused of exposing patients in Maryland and other states to hepatitis C. Described by prosecutors as a "serial infector," David Kwiatkowski is charged in New Hampshire with stealing syringes of a powerful painkiller for his own use and replacing them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his blood.
RALEIGH - Nurse anesthetists from across the state packed a hearing room at the N.C. General Assembly on Wednesday to show their dislike of a bill that calls for a physician to formally supervise their work. Certified nurse anesthetists now may work either "in collaboration with" or "under supervision of" doctors, an arrangement that bill sponsors say leaves the CNA-physician relationship vulnerable to interpretation and possible litigation. The goal is to put into state law "a fundamental patient-safety standard," said Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Republican from Cary who is one of four primary sponsors of the bill.