The state of Georgia recently approved a bill that would protect physicians from civil liability for breaching federal health system reform requirements. The Georgia law would essentially prevent health reform metrics, such as those authorized by the Affordable Care Act, from being used as evidence in liability cases. Georgia’s law states that payer guidelines and quality [...]
With major changes coming to the health care industry, many physicians are considering leaving their practices to work as a hospital employees, locum tenens physicians or simply retiring. The slowly improving economy is fueling this trend. According to the Physician Retention Survey conducted by the American Medical Group Assn. and Cejka Search the physician departure rate at large [...]
Historically, locum tenens physicians were used mostly to fill short-term gaps in coverage, created when a physician vacationed, recovered from an illness or took maternity leave. Today, the number one reason facilities use locum tenens physicians is to fill in while they recruit permanent doctors. The impending physician shortage will make it even more difficult [...]
Today, our healthcare system is in state of definite change. The Obama Administration has opened the door to millions of newly insured residents with its healthcare reforms; Obamacare. These individuals are seeing a brighter future with the ability to receive healthcare, which in the past, may have seem like a mere fairy tale. Both patients [...]
The passing of the “fiscal cliff” bill or otherwise known as the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012″, will delay a 26.5% Medicare reimbursement cut, for a year and will push back another 2% Medicare sequester for two months. This stopgap solution will be paid for by hospitals. Congress will pay for the nearly $30 billion SGR (Sustainable Growth [...]
2013 is shaping up to be a groundbreaking year for the U.S. health care system. Based on research studies and policy papers including the 2012 Biennial Physician Survey, the 2012 Next Generation Physician Survey and the 2012 U.S. Healthcare Highway Report, the Physicians Foundation compiled a list that identifies five major issues that are most [...]
Dr. Delos (Toby) Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, believes that new legislation, medical advances and a growing population plus the cost pressures of the ACA are pushing the healthcare industry towards consolidation. Many large industries have preceded healthcare in this path, including the airline industry and supermarkets. “Hospitals are coming together in systems and [...]
With the re-election of President Obama, it is clear that most provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will stand and will be set for implementation in 2014. The Act contains massive amounts of information in heavy legal lingo making certain sections difficult to understand. Whether a citizen, physician, hospital executive, or insurance company – it is important to [...]
Half of voters believe cutting payments to doctors and hospitals will reduce federal spending on healthcare, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey conducted just after the presedential election. Reimbursement cuts are already starting and many physicians are unhappy with lower reimbursement rates and are considering exiting Medicaid and/or Medicare. In tandem with the additional 30 millions [...]
With President Obama’s election victory and the Democratic Party’s control of the Senate, the government will proceed with health system reform. However, this means the physician community faces many new variables, especially when it comes to payment from both public and private payers. As the health care market transitions to new coverage options, some disruptions may [...]
