Quality and Safety
Consumer-directed health plans with high deductibles typically exempt recommended preventive care such as annual physicals or screening tests from the plan's deductible or require only a small copay as a way to ease financial barriers and encourage patients to seek care. However, many patients don't understand their plan benefits for preventative office care and tend to avoid visits altogether.
An annual list of issues facing physicians doesn't offer any surprises. The Physicians Foundation released today its Physicians Watch List, five issues the nonprofit organization has identified as likely to have the most impact on doctors in 2013.
Jeffrey Brenner, MD, is on a mission to improve the quality and cost of healthcare delivery in his community. He is particularly focused on "super-utilizers," the segment of the population that uses a disproportionately high amount of hospital and ER services. Brenner spoke recently with Healthcare Finance News Editor Rene Letourneau about his research and his views on the nation's failing healthcare systems.
With healthcare costs and chronic disease rates continually rising each year, it will only become more difficult for both employees and employers (who must pay to insure their employees) to keep up financially, which is why successful employee wellness programs are becoming an increasingly important asset in the workplace.
As the healthcare industry works to attain the so-called Triple Aim of affordability, access and quality, doctors will be key said Christine Cassel, MD, Thursday during a leadership conference in Maine.
A new study reveals that financial risk plays a role in underuse of hospice care in the United States.
The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that False Claims Act recoveries in 2012 set records, including for healthcare recoveries, which topped $3 billion.
The market for brain health technology will exceed $1 billion by year's end, and will likely hit somewhere between $4 and $10 billion by 2020, according market researcher SharpBrains. The growth is driven largely by the aging of the population.
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American College of Nurse Practitioners will consolidate effective Jan. 1. 2013, the two membership organizations announced last month.
The costs associated with treating morbidly obese patients continue to rise, according to a report released Monday by healthcare supply contracting firm Novation.