Should Fluoro Be Your Go-to?
Part One in a Three-Part Series
How many times have you wasted at least 30 minutes (if not more) digging around in a patient’s foot to remove a sewing needle or piece of metal or glass? Or maybe the question is, how many of you have immediately referred the patient to podiatry because foreign body removal isn’t an ED procedure?
Foreign body removal may not be emergent, but it can be urgent. Items left in the skin can cause complications and should be removed whenever possible to decrease risk of infection or other future issues.
Foreign body of the left foot in a 56-year-old woman.
The ED is the r...
Source: The Procedural Pause - November 2, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Provider Payment Sunshine Act: Senators Grassley and Blumenthal Introduce Bill to Expand Open Payments Reporting Requirements to Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
On October 7, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) introduced a bill that would expand the Open Payments reporting requirements to include nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Currently, to comply with the Sunshine Act, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers are required to report payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teachings hospitals. While the definition of physician is broad—and includes doctors of medicine, osteopathy, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists and chiropractors who legally authorized to practice by a state—the law currently does not co...
Source: Policy and Medicine - October 9, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Policy and Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Don’t Repeal the “Cadillac Tax” On High Cost Health Plans
Since the beginnings of employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI), employer contributions have been excluded from both income and payroll taxes, without limit (“the exclusion”). The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) so-called “Cadillac Tax”—a nickname chosen to suggest luxury and extravagance—is a 40 percent excise tax on the insurer on the excess of aggregate cost of coverage over $10,200 per individual and $27,500 per family in 2018.
The Cadillac Tax was intended to help correct some of the perverse incentives created by the exclusion, as well as to help pay for subsidies for health insurance purchases. S...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - August 5, 2015 Category: Health Management Authors: Alain Enthoven Tags: Costs and Spending Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Payment Policy Alain Enthoven Cadillac tax Employer-Sponsored Insurance Health Policy premiums Source Type: blogs
Pearls for Abscess Incision and Drainage
Part 2 in a Series
Abscess incision and drainage should be loved and adored by all emergency providers because another abscess is waiting just behind the curtain. This month we highlight general guidelines for abscess incision and drainage, and show how to treat one in the video below. We will follow up with some additional videos in the months to come focusing on scalp, vaginal, and facial abscesses. And, just when you think you have seen it all, we will reveal a few more surprises.
Axillary abscess from hidradenitis. Photo by Martha Roberts.
The Approach
n Identification of an abscess appropriate for I&D....
Source: The Procedural Pause - March 31, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Pearls for Abscess Incision and Drainage
Part 2 in a Series
Abscess incision and drainage should be loved and adored by all emergency providers because another abscess is waiting just behind the curtain. This month we highlight general guidelines for abscess incision and drainage, and show how to treat one in the video below. We will follow up with some additional videos in the months to come focusing on scalp, vaginal, and facial abscesses. And, just when you think you have seen it all, we will reveal a few more surprises.
Axillary abscess from hidradenitis. Photo by Martha Roberts.
The Approach
n Identification of an abscess appropriate fo...
Source: The Procedural Pause - March 31, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
General Guidelines Related to Abscess Incision and Drainage: Part II
Greetings! We’re excited to continue our series on abscess incision and drainage. This procedure should be loved and adored, because another abscess is waiting just behind the curtain. This month we will highlight (in video format) the final cut of abscess incision and drainage. We will follow up with some additional videos in the months to follow focusing on scalp, vaginal, and facial abscesses. And, just when you think you have seen it all, we will reveal a few more surprises.
The Approach
· Identification of an abscess appropriate for I&D
· If unsure, use ultrasound guide...
Source: The Procedural Pause - March 31, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Truth in advertising: When is a doctor really a doctor?
A guest column by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
In an emergency, the first question people often ask is: “Is there a doctor in the house?” When you have a medical problem, the best advice is, “Ask your doctor.” Most people automatically assume that “doctor” in this context refers to a physician with a medical degree.
Dentists, chiropractors, and podiatrists are well-educated professionals who may also be addressed as “doctor,” but there’s no question that their training and specialization is different.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: Ho...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 27, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Daniel Campos, MD, MPH Tags: Physician Surgery Source Type: blogs
Physician Payments Sunshine: Minnesota Releases Transparency Template
As the federal Sunshine Act has rolled out over the last year, Minnesota has been one of the few states that has added additional reporting requirements for drug (not device) manufacturers to track. By May 1, 2015, drug manufacturers must report on their 2014 transfers of value made to physician assistants, APRNs, dental therapists, and veterinarians. These entities are excluded from the Federal reporting obligations. This week, Minnesota has released its reporting payment template.
Downloadable spreadsheet to report payments to practitioners calendar year 2014.
The reportable elements include:
First and Last Name ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - November 14, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Open Payments is Missing a Lot of Data
Open Payments currently presents a vague portrait of how pharmaceutical and device manufacturers interact with physicians. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) noted on Monday that $3.3 billion out of $4.6 billion total payments from industry are either missing or de-identified. View their Fact Sheet here.
Upon release of the database on September 30, Open Payments showed $3.5 billion in payments in various categories. This included 1.7 million records, totaling $2.2 billion, which were de-identified. On Monday, CMS announced that they actually withheld an additional $1.1 billion from the database. This mak...
Source: Policy and Medicine - October 8, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Podiatrist Charged with Medicare Fraud
Philadelphia podiatrist Dr. Aileen Gong has been indicted on charges that she fraudulently billed Medicare over $480,000 for procedures that she never performed.
Gong, who practices in the Chinatown section of Philadelphia, was allegedly out of Philadelphia during the times she claimed she performed the procedures.
The post Podiatrist Charged with Medicare Fraud appeared first on InsideSurgery Medical Information Blog. (Source: Inside Surgery)
Source: Inside Surgery - October 6, 2014 Category: Surgery Authors: Editor Tags: Medical News Wire Aileen Gong chinatown fraud medicare Philadelphia podiatrist Source Type: blogs
Physician Payments Sunshine Act: Organizations Respond to CMS
September 2nd marked the last day for comments on CMS’ proposed rule to eliminate the accredited continuing medical education (CME) exemption from Sunshine Act reporting. In an overwhelming display of support for the exemption, over 800 comments were submitted encouraging the agency to either maintain or expand the current exclusion.
-Total comments supporting maintenance or expansion of the CME exemption: 820
-Total comments supporting elimination of the CME exemption: approximately 20
-Percentage of comments supporting the CME exemption: 98%
We have followed this issue closely, and recentl...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 8, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
The Airia Running Shoes to Improve Performance
I have been following the development and social media spread of these shoes for a while. There was first a thread on Podiatry Arena (which the Airia CEO contributes) and I then did two blog posts about them: The new ‘biomechanically perfect’ running shoe from Airia?Another look at the performance claims by the Airia One running shoe; a theoretical contextThese two posts pretty much sum up my views on the shoes.The shoe comes with a lateral forefoot wedge or slant and claims that this can enhance performance. The company has some data that this is the case and I presented in those blog posts a theoretical context on h...
Source: Podiatry Update - August 22, 2014 Category: Chiropodists Authors: Craig Source Type: blogs
Working Together to Manage Diabetes Webinar
Providers of pharmacy, podiatry, optometry, and dentistry (PPOD) are well positioned to advise and educate patients about diabetes control and prevention. They may be the first to see a person with or at risk for diabetes.
The National Diabetes Education Program presents a free webinar to learn about a new toolkit for PPOD practitioners. The toolkit was developed to show how healthcare professionals can work collaboratively in their communities to promote better health outcomes. Working Together to Manage Diabetes: Tools and Strategies for Pharmacy, Podiatry, Optometry, and Dentistry will be presented August 18, 2014, 12:0...
Source: BHIC - August 6, 2014 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Patricia Devine Tags: General Minority Health Concerns Source Type: blogs
New Diabetes Resource
National Diabetes Education Program: New resource. Working Together to Manage Diabetes: A Toolkit for Pharmacy, Podiatry, Optometry, and Dentistry (PPOD). This enhanced toolkit was designed to help medical professionals work together to recognize the early danger signs of diabetes, decrease the risk of complications, and manage medication therapy. Get the toolkit here: http://1.usa.gov/1oeo8XW (Source: BHIC)
Source: BHIC - July 31, 2014 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Monica Rogers Tags: Health Information Literacy Source Type: blogs
Outbreaks of Non-tubercuous Mycobacterial Infection in the United States
The following chronology of nosocomial mycobacteriosis outbreaks in the United States is abstracted from Gideon www.GideonOnline.com and the Gideon e-book series. [1,2] Primary references available on request.
1987 – An outbreak (17 cases) of Mycobacterium chelonae otitis media was caused by contaminated water used by an ENT practice in Louisiana.
1988 – An outbreak (8 cases) of foot infections due to Mycobacterium chelonae subspecies abscessus infections were associated with a jet injector used in a podiatric office.
1989 to 1990 – An outbreak (16 cases) of sputum colonization by Mycobacterium fortuitum...
Source: GIDEON blog - July 23, 2014 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Dr. Stephen Berger Tags: Ebooks Epidemiology Microbiology Outbreaks ProMED Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria Source Type: blogs
