- Anesthesiologist trashes sedated patient — and it ends up costing her (washingtonpost.com)
..he pressed play on his way home, he was shocked out of his anesthesia-induced stupor: He found that he had recorded the entire examination and that the surgical team had mocked and insulted him as soon as he drifted off to sleep...instructing an assistant to lie to him, and then placed a false diagnosis on his chart.
- 16 Critical Access Hospitals are Best of the Best (healthcareitnews.com)
For the past five years, iVantage Health Analytics has been compiling an annual list of the top 100 critical access hospitals in America. Just 16 facilities have made it onto the list every year of the survey.
- To improve hospital-physician relationships, involve docs in decision-making (fiercehealthcare.com)
Organizational drive to reduce costs can create conflicts with care decisions. Healthcare leaders who want support from their physicians must step up efforts to involve them in key decisions, "No longer can administrators rely on support for decisions in which the physicians had no real input,"..
- HFMA’s healthcare pricing guide for consumers falls short (fiercehealthfinance.com)
…the Healthcare Financial Management Association has released an update of "Understanding Healthcare Prices: A Consumer Guide."….it does not even come close to providing the assistance patients require in navigating their healthcare options and understanding how much it costs. Instead, it.. details the myriad obstacles that exist to obtaining clear prices for healthcare services.
- Importance of Provider Status in Value-Based Care (pharmacytimes.com)
Sandra Leal, PharmD, at SinfoniaRx explains the importance of provider status in value-based care.
- Bill Helps Medical Marijuana Users Access Organ Transplants (kolotv.com)
California lawmakers have passed a bill that prevents medical marijuana users from being denied organ transplants just because they use pot….bill would help medical marijuana users access organ transplants by prohibiting a hospital or doctor from disqualifying a person solely because of medical marijuana use.
- OIG reports revisit questionable billing and fraud within Medicare Part D (fiercehealthpayer.com)Fraud Still Plagues Medicare's Prescription Drug Program (npr.org)
Two new reports released by the Office of Inspector General indicate that rising Medicare Part D costs linked to commonly abused opioids, coupled with questionable billing practices and geographic fraud hotspots, point to missed opportunities for fraud prevention by CMS.
- U.S. suffering from prescription drug shortage (viralnews365.com)
Disruptions in production, safety recalls, difficulties finding key raw ingredients, shifts in demand and decisions to discontinue certain products are just some of the reasons pharmaceutical makers give for not having enough supply. With early warning, the FDA can make arrangements with other manufacturing plants, streamline regulations and assist drugmakers ...
- Healthcare cybersecurity primer outlines defensive strategies (fiercehealthit.com)
A new primer on cyber-security outlines the challenges that healthcare organizations face and steps they can take to defend themselves against cyber-attacks...Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange's "Perspectives on Cybersecurity in Healthcare" covers three prime areas of cybersecurity: the lifecycle of cyberattacks and defense; the anatomy of an attack; and building a culture of prevention.
- New estimates say Medicare Advantage inflated risk scores cost $2 billion a year (fiercehealthpayer.com)
Insurers use consultants and software to root out additional diagnoses, making patients seem sicker than they are. Medicare Advantage plans could have a problem with risk scores that are manipulated by insurers to get a higher reimbursement,…says inflated risk scores cost Medicare $2 billion in 2014. Although this may not classify as outright fraud..