Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Sued Over An $1,800 Hospital Bill
Charity care at nonprofit hospitals is scrutinized by state and federal officials, as hospitals go to great lengths to collect unpaid debts from patients.
Wanted: Mavericks And Missionaries To Solve Mississippi’s Doc Shortage
Janie Guice, a recruiter for University of Mississippi’s medical school, is looking for a few dedicated souls who are willing to commit to practicing in rural parts of the state, even in places without a Walmart.
Los Angeles Is Betting On One Crusading Doc To Turn Public Health System Around
Los Angeles has some 2 million uninsured residents. It has long had one of the most disorganized public health systems, too. Now, Dr. Mitch Katz is looking to reshape the system and match patients with their own doctors.
Head Of Community Health Center Group Critiques KHN Story
This letter, from Tom Van Coverden, President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers, is in response to Wednesday’s KHN story Community Health Centers Under Pressure to Improve Care.
Video: Georgia Clinic Seeks To Meet Health Needs Of Many
Providing adequate primary care at Oakhurst Medical Center, a community health center in Georgia, is often hampered by language and cultural barriers that separate immigrants seeking care at the center from the doctors who care for them.
Community Health Centers Under Pressure to Improve Care
Quality is uneven at federally funded clinics that treat millions of poor people.
Rural Georgia Center Relies on Educators, Electronic Records To Boost Patients’ Health
But some patients still struggle to find specialists.
Health On The Hill: Medicare’s Payment Change For Physicians
KHN’s Jordan Rau and Mary Agnes Carey discuss Medicare’s transition to compensating doctors based on the quality of the medical care they provide.
Medicare To Tie Doctors’ Pay To Quality, Cost Of Care
A little-noticed provision of the health law calls for increasing reimbursements to doctors who provide quality care at lower cost and reducing payments to physicians who run up costs without better results.
Massachusetts Health Reform, From The Front Lines
Massachusetts Medical Society President Dr. Lynda Young offers her views on how the practice of medicine has changed in the six years since the state’s health reform law took effect and how issues of health care costs continue to be an everyday concern.
Massachusetts On Track To ‘Crack The Code’ For Health Care Cost Control
As his state’s health reforms mark their sixth anniversary, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick explains how he hopes to confront the next health reform challenges — controlling health care costs and overhauling the payment system.
The Next Health Reform Move: Overhauling Payment Practices
As Massachusetts policy makers and stakeholders focus on efforts to control health care costs through payment reform, Health Care for All’s Paul Williams outlines the considerations that are crucial to ensuring that patients experience a higher quality of care, and the most vulnerable are protected.
Massachusetts Health Reform: On The Right Path
Lynn Nicholas, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, outlines how tackling health care cost, payment and quality issues is the next necessary step in order to make the state’s reform achievements sustainable.
Physicians Wade Into Efforts To Curb Unnecessary Treatments
Nine groups list 45 practices they say are overused and may harm patients.
Medicare Now Covers Annual Screening For Depression
The coverage change could help focus doctors and patients on mental health issues, which often go undiagnosed in the elderly, especially those who are dealing with multiple chronic physical problems.
Effort To Pay Hospitals Based On Quality Didn’t Cut Death Rates, Study Finds
The New England Journal of Medicine reports that a test project
Some Insurers Paying Patients Who Agree To Get Cheaper Care
In these programs, people who have been prescribed a diagnostic test or elective procedure earn a bonus when they opt to go to a less expensive facility than the one recommended by their physician.
Health Law Accelerates Industry Changes
Experts don’t expect the Supreme Court’s ruling to alter that course.
Doctors’ Smartphones And iPads May Be Distracting
Doctors who carry mobile devices are often hit with a flurry of texts, e-mails, Facebook messages and tweets that sometimes keep them from patients’ needs.
Some States Limit How Uninsured Pay For High-Risk Insurance
The states are concerned that third-party funding may drive up the number of people seeking to join the pre-existing condition insurance plans and exhaust the budgets provided by the federal government.
