Nurse Practitioner’s Life Story Prepares Him To Work With Homeless
As a primary care clinician at a health care clinic in northeast D.C., Douglas Reed’s life growing up in the neighborhood near the clinic prepared him to care for the residents there — and the special needs they have.
Law Will Shift Demographics For Medicaid Toward Healthier Group, Study Finds
The health law is expected to change the face of Medicaid – literally. As part of the federal overhaul, some states have opted to expand in January this state-federal health insurance program for low income people to include Americans who earn as much as 138 percent of the federal poverty line (just under $16,000 for […]
Physician Recruitment Trends: Demand Continues For Primary Care Docs
Doctors are reacting to changes in the health care system — and their job placements are proof. Merritt Hawkins, a national health care consulting and recruitment firm, shed some light on the situation through the company’s annual look at physician recruitment trends. The 2013 review was based on a survey of 3,097 permanent doctor and […]
Health Insurers Tune In To Twitter For Customer Service
Companies are amping up their social media presence in an effort to help patients and do quick damage control on complaints aired in this public sphere.
Health Law Boosts Status Of Alternative Medicine — At Least On Paper
The Affordable Care Act says that insurance companies “shall not discriminate” against any state-licensed health provider, which could lead to better coverage of chiropractic, homeopathic and naturopathic care. Alternative medicine is also mentioned in parts of the law on wellness, prevention and research.
Tavenner Wasn’t Consulted On Delaying Health Law’s Employer Mandate
Marilyn Tavenner said at a House subcommittee meeting Wednesday that she was not consulted on the Obama administration’s decision to postpone a key part of the health law requiring employers offer health insurance plans to their workers. Tavenner, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said she was “made aware” that the Obama administration […]
House GOP Unconvinced Health Insurance Exchange Information Will Be Secure
Updated July 18, 10:40 a.m. With the NSA’s phone call monitoring and Edward Snowden on many minds, it’s not exactly a comfortable time for the government to roll out a massive computer project dealing with personal data like income, Social Security numbers and ethnicity. But Henry Chao, a lead technology information officer from the Centers for […]
Researchers Look At Why Poor Patients Prefer Hospital Care
Long wait times, jammed schedules, confusing insurance plans – there’s no shortage of obstacles between a patient and her doctor. That is, if she has a doctor. But a Health Affairs study published Monday says the barriers for poor people looking to get care are even higher, and it’s leading them away from preventive doctor […]
What The High Court’s Affirmative Action Decision Might Mean To Med Schools
Wylie Lopez said he often has to prove himself. If classmates suggest that he got an internship placement because he’s Hispanic, the to-be second year medical school student said he has no problem showing them his grades, or MCAT scores. “It’s a fair argument,” said Lopez, who grew up in a rough, working-class neighborhood. “If […]
Facebook Raises The Status Of Organ Donation, Study Shows
Toni Lewis-Bennett remembers hesitating when she was asked to be an organ donor while applying for her driver’s license. But years later, when a friend at work became sick, she got tested to see if she could donate her kidney to save his life. And with a green light from doctors, there was no question […]
Britain’s National Health Service Visits D.C. For Some Pointers
A discussion on how to improve the British system turned up buzzwords reminiscent of the U.S. health reform debate: integrated health care, patient-centered services, cutting costs.
Study: Brand Name Drugs Drive Up Medicare Spending
A new study suggests that cash-strapped Medicare missed an opportunity to save more than $1 billion by not addressing the varying costs and use of prescription drugs. Comparing Medicare enrollees and those on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health plan, researchers found that Medicare beneficiaries were up to three times more likely than […]
A Doctor Goes Viral — On Purpose
Dr. Zubin Damania, a.k.a. ZDoggMD, takes to YouTube to parody and pillory modern medicine. On his serious side, he’s founding a new kind of clinic to try to change primary care.
Doctors Transform How They Practice Medicine
Physicians are experimenting with new business models and practice techniques in response to financial and lifestyle pressures.
Study Models Three Big Changes To Medicare
Lawmakers are looking for ways to tackle the growth of Medicare spending, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will account for 24 percent of the federal budget by 2037. But some strategies to cut program costs could leave millions of beneficiaries without coverage. A study from the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, compared the […]
Bid To Cover Abortion After Rape For Peace Corps Volunteers
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) introduced a bill Thursday that would provide health insurance coverage for abortions to Peace Corps volunteers in the case of rape or incest. The Peace Corps Equity Act of 2013 echoes the Shaheen Amendment, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2012. That law provides military women coverage for abortions […]
New Website Will Disclose Health Industry Payments To Doctors
For the first time, the government will make information about financial relationships between doctors, teaching hospitals and drug manufacturers publicly available. To comply with a provision in the Affordable Care Act, drug and device manufacturers, along with group purchasing organizations, will have to disclose all of their payments and other compensation to physicians and teaching hospitals. Those who […]
Beginning End Of Life Care At The Dinner Table
Michael Hebb wants you to pass the butter, and then talk about passing on. As the founder of “Let’s Have Dinner and Talk About Death,” he urged Americans to engage in a conversation about how they want to die, a conversation that could change the high cost of caring for the terminally ill and grant patients […]
Jonathan Bush Makes Case For Entrepreneurs In Health Care At TEDMED
Jonathan Bush wants to know why entrepreneurs can come up with an entire Starbucks-style language and culture for coffee but have little traction in health care. “Don’t jam the entrepreneurs,” said Bush, during a high energy, ebullient talk that had the TEDMED audience on its feet by the end. A scion of the Bush political […]
Innovators Preach Health Care Change At TEDMED
There was a buzz in The Hive yesterday. That’s what TEDMED, a health care and medical technology summit, calls the chic tent of 50 health care innovators who gave hands-on tours of their mobile apps and medical technology. Some of the 1,800 conference attendees lined up Tuesday for a Smartphone Physical, or to add their ideas […]
