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Avoid Being the Ostrich
A recent post on the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions Blog, “Convergence in health care: The opportunity in uncertainty,” starts off with the following statement:
There is no question that significant change is occurring in the health care industry and nobody really knows exactly how all of this is going to play out over the next couple of years. In light of all of this uncertainty, one of two scenarios could have played out: players in the health care industry could have sat on the sidelines, waited it out to see what happens, and avoided the potential risk that comes with uncertainty. Instead, the alternative scenario is playing out with organizations across all parts of health care using change as an opportunity to make bold plays from a strategic perspective. Some of that is manifesting itself in consolidation within sectors, and some of that is manifesting itself in convergence across sectors.
I agree.
As I tell my healthcare clients, the roller coaster healthcare environment presents them with many alternative business opportunities. However, one alternative that must be avoided is doing nothing. Doing nothing is not the same as staying where you are. The status quo may be the right strategy for some. For others, it may be consolidation and convergence. But everyone needs to stay focused and be an active participant in his or her business future. Involvement is required to evaluate the different alternatives and make a good decision. Otherwise, opportunities will be lost and maybe lost forever.
The ACP Advocate Blog — “If I were King”
Bob Doherty, ACP’s Senior Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Public Policy, blogs about important health policy issues in The ACP Advocate Blog.
This is from Doherty’s August 2 blogpost, “If I were King.” It is a thoughtful article that focuses on the issues that need to be addressed in U.S. healthcare and offers sensible approaches to resolving them.
“But yet, is my wish list really too much to expect from elected lawmakers in Washington who take a solemn oath to a Constitution that requires them to promote the common welfare and ensure domestic tranquility? Is it too much to ask that we provide every American with health insurance, that we free doctors from unnecessary red tape and paperwork, that we enact policies that support the value of primary care, that physicians and nurses put aside their differences so that they can work together to provide the best possible care to patients, that we facilitate choice and completion by posting comparative information on price and quality, that we keep guns out of the hands of insane people and convicted felons and that we limit access to guns that allow murderers to kill as many people as possible in as little time as possible (including schoolchildren), that we repeal the ridiculous SGR formula, and that we reform our politics so government can actually start governing again? Is that really too much of a fantasy to ask of the people we elect?”
See on advocacyblog.acponline.org
To change health care, we need more physician leaders
From Dr. Davis Liu’s post on kevinmd.com:
“We see our health care system not doing better because we do not have the structure or leadership to move the system because we have no system. There is no common leadership. There is no common culture. There is no common goal. Instead it is hundreds of thousands of doctors often working in small groups not having the types of conversation and the follow through needed to change norms or culture. This stunning gap of what we know works and what actually happens continues to harm patients. Whether accountable care organizations will be the right microculture to improve health care remains to be seen. What really matters is whether there is leadership at these organizations willing to have the difficult one to one conversations on a consistent basis. I believe that physician leaders, who both have clinical expertise and credibility, are best suited for this role.”
See on www.kevinmd.com
Physician Payment Sunshine Act
The vilification of physicians continues …
The Physician Payment Sunshine Act has been around for a while now, but things are getting ready to heat up. On August 1, the federal regulations implementing the Physician Payment Sunshine Act go into effect.
The regulations were finalized last February, to “implement the requirements in section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act … . That provision requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies covered under [Medicare or Medicaid or CHIP] to report annually to the Secretary certain payments or other transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals. [The Act] also requires applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations to report certain information regarding the ownership or investment interests held by physicians or the immediate family members of physicians in such entities.”
Medical Economics published a very good summary of the Sunshine Act, “Sunshine Act: 7 things you need to know.” Manufacturers and GPOs on August 1 will start gathering data on physicians with whom they have made a specified payment or other transfers of value or who have investment or ownership interests in the manufacturers or GPOs. The nearly 80 triple-columned pages of regulations define the various terms and explain how the data is to be gathered and reported. The data will be reported to CMS electronically by March 31, 2014 and will be available online to patients and others.
In a related story, Medical Economics reported yesterday that there is now an app for physicians to track reports made regarding them pursuant to the Act.
Healthcare Reform’s Impact on Physician Practices
On August 1 in Tampa and on August 23 in Sarasota, Akerman is co-sponsoring a Lunch ‘n’ Learn Program on the impact of healthcare reform on physician practices. If you would like to attend either event, please follow the applicable link and RSVP.
I will be one of the panelists. My topic is “Mergers, Hospitals, and Networks, oh my! — What are Physician Practices Doing to Survive?”
Accenture Doctor’s Survey: The Digital Doctor is “In”
Accenture Eight-Country Survey of Doctors Shows Significant Increase in Healthcare IT Usage: The 2012 survey among 3,700 doctors in eight countries reveals that today’s doctors are going digital—now more than ever before. In fact, the survey shows a spike in healthcare IT usage across all countries surveyed (Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain and the United States).
See on www.accenture.com
The Gulf Between Doctors and Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners believe that they can lead primary care practices and admit patients to a hospital and that they deserve to earn the same amount as doctors for the same work. Physicians disagree.
For several years now, health care experts have been issuing warnings about an impending severe shortfall of primary care physicians. Policy makers have suggested that nurse practitioners, nurses who have completed graduate-level studies and up to 700 additional hours of supervised clinical work, could fill the gap.
Already, many of these advanced-practice nurses work as their patients’ principal provider. They make diagnoses, prescribe medications and order and perform diagnostic tests. And since they are reimbursed less than physicians, policy makers are quick to point out, increasing the number of nurse practitioners could lower health care costs.
See on well.blogs.nytimes.com
Physician EHRs: Make patient data work for you – amednews.com
Managing the data deluge an electronic health system provides can be a seemingly onerous task, but corralling the information will improve your practice.
Thanks to electronic health records and requirements that doctors use those systems to collect and share data, physician practices have easy access to information they never had before. The data, experts say, hold a lot of power. They can transform the way physicians treat patients and run their practices.
Since the rise of EHRs, much of the talk about patient data has been geared toward so-called big data used by insurance companies, researchers and large health systems to conduct large-scale research projects, guide best practices and determine population-based health statistics. But the data that go into those repositories originate inside physician practices. Experts say that in addition to sending the data along for outside projects, the information collected within a practice’s four walls can be used for its own data projects.
Practices already are collecting and reporting certain data measurements to meet requirements of the meaningful use incentive program. But many have not used the data beyond submitting the required reports, because they probably don’t know where to start.
See on amednews.com
Independence comes at price many doctors still willing to pay – amednews.com
Physicians in private practice say they are struggling financially compared with employed peers, but that the sacrifice is worth the autonomy.
See on amednews.com
New England Leads Nation In Primary Care – Newsroom: Bernie Sanders – U.S. Senator for Vermont
With Vermont leading the way, five of New England’s six states rank in the top six for primary care doctors per capita, according to datafrom the Association of American Medical Colleges. The sixth, Connecticut, ranks 12th. As the national shortage of primary care doctors expected to increase after the federal Affordable Care Act takes full effect next year, some are looking to New England’s states with an eye to what they’ve been doing right.
Several factors contribute to New England’s relatively strong position. Among them: strong public health programs ensuring that high percentages of residents have health coverage, meaning fewer doctors deliver uncompensated care. Massachusetts, which enacted a universal health care program in 2006, has about 97 percent of its residents carrying health coverage. In Vermont it’s about 94 percent.
See on www.sanders.senate.gov
Joseph Rugg's Health Law Blog 