CMS seeks input on future of Open Payments program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is seeking physician input on the Open Payments program.
The agency signaled its intent to gather information in its <a... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 21, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Feds sue to block mega-mergers by health insurers
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing to block two mega-mergers between four of the largest health insurers in the nation, claiming the alignments will harm competition and reduce patient... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 21, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Lessons learned from merging EHR systems
WASHINGTON – As practices merge, how hard is it to merge EHRs?
Even in what might seem to be the best circumstances, it can be a huge challenge, according to <a... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 21, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Hepatitis C infection rates rising in women, young children
Rates of hepatitis C virus detection increased in U.S. women aged 15-44 years and in children less than 2 years old from 2011 to 2014, according to investigators from the Centers for Disease Control... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 21, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Teen Girls Who Play Sports Should Watch Out For These Worrying Health Signs
By Lisa Rapaport
(Reuters Health) - As a growing number of teen girls participate in sports, doctors need to watch for health problems that can develop when these athletes exercise too much and don’t eat enough calories, some sports medicine experts argue.
Taken together, the health issues - disordered eating, a halt in monthly menstrual cycles known as amenorrhea and a bone-thinning disease known as osteoporosis - are known as the female athlete triad. Girls may have just one of these problems or a combination, in varying degrees, according to the authors of a recent clinical guidance report in Pediatrics.
“Th...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - July 21, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
In GOP Convention's Shadow, Obamacare Is Paying Big Dividends
CLEVELAND ― The Republicans gathering inside the Quicken Loans Arena don’t care too much about the nitty-gritty of policy. But if there’s one substantive issue that generates passion among convention delegates and party leaders, it’s Obamacare.
They think it crushes freedom. They think it’s a handout. And they think it’s a policy disaster.
At the Neighborhood Family Practice, which serves a racially diverse, low-income area about six miles west of downtown, the clinic staff has a slightly different perspective.
For them, the Affordable Care Act isn’t an ideological abstraction, to be l...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - July 21, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Start time for estrogen conveys no cognitive impact
The cognitive effects of estrogen were no different in women who started taking the hormone within 6 years of menopause, compared with those who began it 10 or more years after menopause, based on... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 20, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Buprenorphine implants rival daily sublingual buprenorphine for opioid dependence
Using an implant device to administer buprenorphine for adult patients being treated for opioid addiction is a viable alternative to the standard sublingual buprenorphine, a randomized clinical trial... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 20, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Feds plan to raise penalties for false claims
Penalties for health providers under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) are set to double under a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The interim final rule would increase minimum... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 19, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
FPM Supplement Helps FPs Digest MACRA Implementation Details
A free five-page supplement to the July/August Family Practice Management aims to help AAFP members prepare for implementation of new Medicare payment models. (Source: AAFP News)
Source: AAFP News - July 19, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder
Traumatic events are extremely common, with as many as 60% of children experiencing some trauma by age 18 years. About 15% of these children will develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
<span... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 19, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Supreme Court offers mixed take on false claim liability
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expands liability under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) could have both positive and negative implications for physicians accused of submitting false claims to the... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 19, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Proposed Medicare physician fee schedule update ‘a great foundation’ – ACP
First impressions of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed updated to the physician fee schedule for 2017 are positive, according to the American College of Physicians.
“We... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 18, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Resolving patients’ complaints
For most physicians, the resolution of patients’ complaints ranks second only to firing an employee on the Least Favorite Tasks List. With so many potential problems, and so many ways patients can... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 18, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
Cost of end-of-life care peaks at age 73 years
The cost of end-of-life care for Americans on traditional Medicare is higher for those in their early 70s than for beneficiaries in their 80s or 90s, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
In... (Source: Family Practice News)
Source: Family Practice News - July 18, 2016 Category: Primary Care Source Type: news
