Ambulatory Care

Running its own health plan has allowed this Wisconsin system to design a homemade value-based reimbursement model.

Walgreens on Sunday formally cut ties with blood-testing startup Theranos and will immediately close all 40 Theranos Wellness Centers at its stores in Arizona.

Medicare is ambulatory care's favorite insurer when it comes to getting paid faster, according to a new peer60 survey of close to 800 ambulatory care providers.

With the shortage of primary care providers already severe in some areas of the country, a recent study published in Health Affairs has found that 58 percent of retail clinic cases were new visits, which drove about a $14-per-person annual net increase in spending.

More consumers across all demographics are using alternative sites of care, including retail health clinics, urgent care centers and telehealth, according to a new online survey by management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. And many of those consumers are having good experiences.

The city of La Habra says the $260 fees are to help recoup expenses that aren't sufficiently covered by insurers.

Two professional organizations representing emergency doctors warn that a new federal rule could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers when they need emergency care outside their health plan's network of providers. But consumer advocates and health policy experts say the groups' proposed solution doesn't adequately protect consumers.

Congress on Wednesday is considering legislation to allow physicians working in ambulatory surgical centers to receive the same payment incentives for meaningful use of electronic health records as doctors in other settings.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday proposed new rules to discharge planning requirements for long-term care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, critical access hospitals and home health agencies.

Since 1993, 11 people have been killed in abortion-related attacks -- doctors, clinic staff, and last week, a police officer and two visitors in the line of fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. While the investigation continues into the shooter's background and motives, David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University, says that stalking and harassment pose a much more common threat to abortion providers and their families.