Opiate abuse is a nationwide epidemic. We are constantly looking for solutions One might be using buprenorphine implants. This study in JAMA found that the implants were as successful as sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone in maintaining clinical stability in opioid-dependent patients. During the 6-month study period, 63% of patients in the buprenorphine implant group and 54% of… Read More
From Modern Healthcare, October 31,2016 which reported on the private purchase of Team Health by the Blackstone Group. With roughly 19,000 physicians and $80M in earnings, there are likely big changes in store for TeamHealth. Physician-staffing giant TeamHealth has agreed to be purchased by affiliates of the Blackstone Group for $6.1 billion. The Blackstone price… Read More
TeamHealth is one of the nation’s largest physician-staffing companies with 19,000 physicians, Merging hospitalists into a company primarily composed of emergency physicians is proving to be challenging. Team Health bought IPC in November 2015 for $1.6 billion. IPC was noted to have higher physician turnover and offers a different salary structure than does Team Health. TeamHealth reportedly has 3,400… Read More
Another company is entering the physician direct to patient or “housecall” market in California. It is surprising how much money is being thrown at this and how unfortunately, the business model is still not sorted out. Excerpts from the MSN article include California-based Heal is betting that housecalls can not just make you healthier, but… Read More
From October 2016 North Bay Business Journal Medicare began releasing records of reimbursements to doctors in 2013. That data revealed some numbers made doctors appear as they were making a lot of money when really the cost was pharmaceutical costs as the the data added those costs into the physician compensation. In 2012, 151 out… Read More
From Modern Healthcare If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency Nov. 8, she will quickly name people to top health policy positions Some names floated as likely contenders for HHS secretary, CMS administrator and other posts include former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Neera Tanden, Chris Jennings, Ann O’Leary, Dr. Atul Gawande… Read More
From Modern Healthcare Psychiatric patients wait disproportionately longer in emergency departments before receiving treatment and experience longer stays compared to other medical patients, according to reports released Monday by the American College of Emergency Physicians. The three separate studies examined how emergency rooms care for patients with psychiatric conditions compared to other patients by looking… Read More
A study in Journal of Hospital Medicine, hospitalist Daniel J. Brotman, MD, and his colleagues examined nearly 4,500 acute-care hospitals’ hospital-wide readmission rates and compared them with those hospitals’ mortality rates in six areas used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: heart attack, pneumonia, heart failure, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and coronary… Read More
The bipartisan legislation put forward this week would also allow off-campus hospital outpatient departments currently under construction to continue receiving higher rates than similar facilities that aren’t owned by hospitals. Bipartisan legislation introduced this week would tweak Medicare’s readmissions program to adjust for socio-economic status of patients. It would also allow off-campus hospital outpatient departments… Read More
