World Articles

On 9/11 there were the hundreds of people who ran away from the disasters. Then there were the people who ran toward the collapsing World Trade Center to help—police, paramedics, and other first responders. Many of these heroes have suffered debilitating medical problems and have even died because of the toxins released at the site [...]

A report on the impact of healthcare reform on actual healthcare expenses includes some moderately good news for the overall US budget. However, it also includes some very bad news for doctors who continue to accept Medicare patients. But let’s start with the good news. On September 9, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid [...]

The economy has hit everyone, and your practice is no different. Here are a few suggestions on how to ease expenses while we’re waiting for the recovery to happen. – Jen Gilbert • Cut hours, not jobs For jobs not directly associated with patient care, consider cutting just a few hours a week. If you [...]

An article posted in September 2010 in the LA Times online profiles a program that could be wonderful for elderly patients who can’t get out to see their doctors. The program helps patients, cuts hospitalizations, and thus cuts costs. But the whole plan leaves one thing out—money to cover the physicians’ expenses for doing all [...]

In good times and bad, people still get sick, right? This conventional wisdom makes sense: Healthcare should largely be immune from the ups and downs in the larger economy. According to a recent study, it’s not. The National Bureau of Economic Research recently published a study finding that 26.5% of Americans report cutting back on [...]

EHRs are the holy grail of medicine. They promise to increase efficiency, improve quality, and ultimately reduce costs. And of course there are the new governmental incentives – and penalties. Starting next year, physicians who meet government qualifications demonstrating “meaningful use” of EHRs in their practices stand to gain up to $44K in Medicare or [...]

Worst Health System Performance of Industrialized Nations According to a recently released report, the U.S. spends double the amount on healthcare that 6 other nations they studied do, yet it gets the worst results. The U.S. ranked either last or next to last on the 5 dimensions studied: access, quality, equity, efficiency, and healthy lives—as [...]

The fallout from the new healthcare laws continues. Surprisingly, the latest front to erupt in battle is within the ranks of the American Medical Association. The Florida Medical Association recently expressed its displeasure with the AMA’s support of new healthcare legislation backed by President Obama. Even though in its letter the FMA said it had [...]