As Refugees Settle In, Health Care Becomes A Hurdle
Dr. Ashenafi Waktola relies on his own experience as a refugee from Ethiopia to shape his practice in Silver Spring, Md. where almost 50 percent of his patients are refugees. The 76,000 new arrivals from troubled countries who come to the U.S. each year qualify for government health care for eight months, but they often face language barriers and a confounding system when that special status elapses.
Programs Help Independent Artists Access Health Care
Updated at 10:50 a.m. When Corynn Stoltenberg, then 31, found out she was at high risk for cancer at a health fair in Minnesota, she hadn’t been to the doctor in 10 years. As a dancer and theater artist who supported herself by working at coffee shops and cleaning houses, she often was without health […]
Tight Medicaid Eligibility Leads To More Adults Delaying Care
Hidalgo is a county in southern Texas just across the Rio Grande from Mexico. It’s also home to the highest prevalence of U.S. adults – about 40 percent of the population– delaying necessary medical care because of cost, according to data in the March 28 New England Journal of Medicine. The research letter in the March 28 […]
Doctors Eager For Evidence About Integrated Health Systems
Doctors say they are finding more opportunities in the integrated health systems that have been touted in the federal health law, such as accountable care organizations, which are groups of health providers and hospitals that work together to improve patient care and lower costs. But they are still hesitant to change their practices without more evidence […]
Matchmaker, Er, Match Week, Make Me A Doc
Fourth-year medical students have been talking a lot about their perfect match these days: first impressions, the one who called right after they met, some that were too far away. For many, “match week” — this week — is what they’ve been working toward over the past four years. It’s the week that decides if, and […]
Osteopathic Physicians: An Answer To Rural Health Care Needs?
The growing number of osteopathic doctors could help fill the primary care niche in medically underserved areas.
The Mainstreaming Of Osteopathic Medicine
For years, osteopathic physicians were viewed differently than their medical-doctor counterparts, but this distinction is disappearing.
Messaging Your Doctor? There’s An App For That
Last year Dr. Michael Nusbaum introduced a mobile application in an effort to make scheduling a medical appointment as easy as sending a Facebook message to a friend, and as safe as sharing your medical information in person at the doctor’s office. The New Jersey-based surgeon said he designed MedXCom “to bring doctor-patient communication to the twenty-first […]
The ‘Yawning’ Chart Med School Students Fear
Medical school students call this chart the “jaws of death.” The graph from the Association of American Medical Colleges displays a yawning gap between the increasing number of med school grads looking for residencies and the number of residency slots available to them. “This is the only time in the history of the U.S. that […]
Despite Possible Ease In Regulations, Rural Hospitals Face Challenges
Rural health care administrators got some good news this week. The Obama administration Monday proposed to ease some Medicare regulations – a change that could save rural hospitals much-needed money by allowing for more flexible staffing requirements. But for about 450 health care professionals who attended this week’s National Rural Health Association Policy Institute in […]
For Medicare Innovations – Think Locally
Reforming Medicare – from changing the way doctors are paid to streamlining patient care – could benefit from a grassroots approach, according to experts and physicians at a policy summit held by National Journal Live in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. “We need to focus more on responding to and joining local initiatives,” said Len Nichols, director […]
Report: CMS Community Initiatives Could Reduce Health Costs
A pilot program introduced by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to boost quality of care for seniors by developing community approaches to health problems could play a key role in bringing down costs, according to a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Quality Improvement Organizations, or QIOs, are […]
Study: Seniors Look For Star Ratings On Medicare Advantage Plans
America’s seniors are benefiting from a star rating system that ranks the quality of Medicare Advantage plans, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Authors affiliated with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conducted a study of almost 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries. They found a positive relationship — […]
Doctors And Dentists Lure Patients With Money-Saving Deals Online
Dollar-conscious consumers are turning to websites like Groupon for price breaks on medical, dental and vision care.
Health Law Could Help Low-Income Mothers With Depression
Maternal depression can make it more difficult for women to breastfeed, keep up with doctors’ appointments and interact with their babies. But some health care researchers are hoping the Affordable Care Act will improve treatment for a condition that affects 11 percent of infants’ mothers on average, but which is more prevalent among low-income mothers. “Low-income mothers were […]
Smoking Prevention Funds Run Short Despite Tobacco Settlement
In 1998, big tobacco companies settled a landmark lawsuit and agreed to pay states $246 billion over 25 years for smoking prevention efforts. Fourteen years later – with smoking still the country’s leading cause of preventable death – most states use only a fraction of the money for its intended purpose. An annual report found that less than 2 percent […]
More Workers Covered By Bosses’ Self-Insured Plans
The number of U.S. workers covered by self-insured health plans—in which their employer assumes the financial risk for health costs rather than paying insurance companies to do that—has grown steadily in recent years. But such plans are still primarily used by large companies, not small employers, a new study finds. As of 2011, more than […]
Report: Coverage of Smoking Cessation Treatments Is Spotty Despite Health Law
It’s hard to stop smoking. But a new report suggests it’s even harder to decipher how your insurance plan covers the cost of treatments to help you quit. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act required that all new private health insurance plans completely cover preventive services deemed effective by the United States Preventive Services Task […]
States Detail Questions About Their Exchange Options
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday that he will build a health exchange in his state – as soon as the Obama administration can explain exactly what that means. The Republican governor submitted 50 questions to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about how the state-built online insurance markets are supposed to be set up. “As […]
Survey: Most U.S. Primary Care Docs Using EMRs
U.S. doctors are no longer the laggards when it comes to using health information technology in their practices. But they are still more weighed down by paperwork and health care costs than many of their Western counterparts. A survey of nearly 8,500 primary care doctors in ten of the world’s wealthiest countries took a new look […]
