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Stark Reality
Multi-Specialty Practices Anxiously Await MedPac Recommendations for Imaging
Over the past few years, there has been a gradual chipping away of allowed reimbursements for imaging. Tightening Stark regulations have largely been driven by concern over the rising costs of advanced diagnostic imaging and soaring utilization rates.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
There’s an App for That!
Medical Applications for Mobile Technology are Burgeoning
With mobile technologies advancing, so too are medical uses of those technologies – and the ride has just begun, predicts one expert.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
Making the Switch
Providers Face Challenges, Opportunities by Going Paperless
Federal stimulus funds that soon will be available to help medical practices implement electronic medical records offer renewed incentive for making the switch to a "paperless" practice. But the change from traditional charting and record-keeping methods can be daunting for both doctors and office staff.
SERENAH McKAY - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm - 1 opinion posted |
Experts Discuss Impact of Electronic Health Records
At a panel discussion on electronic health records (EHR) and health information exchanges (HIE) held May 27 and sponsored by the Memphis Bioworks Business Association, one of the three panelists said the best way to drive EHR adoption by medical practices is to keep doctors focused on how it would help patients.
SERENAH McKAY - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
Healthcare Reform Affects Medicare Patients and the Under 65 Set Differently
How to Answer Questions from Your Patients
If you’re a physician, chances are you have already fielded a bevy of questions from patients about healthcare reform. Rest assured, the questions will keep coming. Experts say that doctors need to be up to speed, and fast, about how reform will affect their patients’ healthcare and their insurance options in the future.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
HEALTHCARE LEADER: Rodney Holmes
Executive Director, MidSouth eHealth Alliance
Commuting weekly from his Birmingham home for nearly four years—a distance of more than 200 miles—in order to shepherd a worthy project reflects commitment with a capital “C.” Rodney Holmes has leveraged his persistent passion for information technology into a master’s degree project, a career, and a Memphis-based alliance of healthcare providers that is gaining increasing respect and recognition.
JUDY OTTO - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
Medical Pioneer Jackson Coleman
HEI Recognizes Eye Ultrasound Developer for Worldwide Contribution
When Barrett Haik, MD, left his native New Orleans in 1977 to complete ophthalmology training in New York City, D. Jackson Coleman, MD, took him under his wing.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
MEDICAL ECONOMICS: Characteristics of Top-earning Physicians
Most physicians want to know what top- earning physicians have in common. Last year, the Medical Group Management Association published a report that discussed themes and patterns of the top-earning physicians. To identify the physicians who earn the most, the MGMA looked at the patterns of the upper third (66th percentile) in identifying the top earners.
BILL APPLING - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
Medical Mission Workers Save Lives (and Souls)
Ken Nippert believes in living his faith. As the area director of Christian Medical and Dental Associations (CMDA), Nippert conducts two mission trips a year, bringing healthcare services — and the message of Christian discipleship — to people in third-world countries.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
Henry Dalsania, MD
Interventional Radiologist
Had it not been for a spring break ski trip to Breckenridge, Colorado, Henry Dalsania, MD, might never have discovered his passion for snowboarding. Skiing was not a fit. Try as he might, he couldn't get his arms and legs in sync. But snowboarding was a different story. He sensed the way his body needed to move in order to assault the mountain. Thanks to an equal part of determination and grit, he conquered the sport. By week's end, he knew he was hooked.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
8 NEW LAWS PHYSICIANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
In the last 4 months, there have occurred a number of important changes and developments in both state and federal healthcare laws. This article will highlight 8 of these laws that have the potential immediately to impact physicians and their practices.
Angela Youngberg - Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2010 4:49 pm |
Playing Well With Others
Building Strong Relationships in an Evolving Environment
In theory, hospital administrators, physicians and nurses are all on the same team with the same ultimate goal — delivering the highest quality of patient care possible. In practice, those relationships are easily strained as fiscal realities, misaligned objectives and strong personalities are factored into the equation.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Fostering an Epidemic of Skin Cancer
Dermatologists Take Aim at Indoor Tanning
On an average day in America, more than 1 million people visit an indoor tanning salon. That’s why dermatologists nationwide have declared war on the practice, which research overwhelmingly has shown causes cancer.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Healthcare Reform Boosts Primary Care
Reimbursement Incentives Offered to Ease the Strain
Well, it’s done, and depending on your perspective, the historic Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that sets about reforming America’s health system could be a boon or it could be a bust. For most stakeholders, reality is somewhere in the middle.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
HEALTHCARE LEADER: Mary Hammons, MSN
Chief Executive Officer, Delta Medical Center
It’s all about excellence—and compassion. Although she was a business student at the University of Memphis, Mary Hammons was so impressed and inspired by the level of compassionate care her grandmother received from the ICU nurses at Baptist Central that she chose to enter nursing school, instead. Her passion for ensuring that other patients receive the same level of dedicated attention as her beloved Nana, has never left her.
JUDY OTTO - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Telehealth: Making it Work
There’s a Better Way for America to Age in Place.
On April 22, 2010, U.S. Senator Bob Corker and the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing entitled 'Aging in Place: The National Broadband Plan and Bringing Health Care Technology Home."
MATT BINIAKEWITZ - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Magnolia Money Chips In: Mississippi Medicaid Funds Boost The MED
Mississippi will soon give the Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED) a financial bump, thanks to newly-approved Medicaid supplemental payments to the regional safety-net hospital that treats more than 3,000 Mississippians annually.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Two Laboratory Reimbursement Extensions as Addressed by CMS
Reasonable Cost Payment for Rural Hospitals and Pathology Technical Component Payment has been in limbo, but recently the CMS addressed in two Medicare Learning Network Matters Articles. (See MLN Matters articles SE0931 and MM6873.)
BETTY HATTEN - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Scope of Practice: APNs Tout Primary Care Capabilities
For advance practice nurses (APNs), it’s a matter of simple math … the fastest-growing population segment is over 65, more than 30 million Americans will be added to the insurance rolls through healthcare reform, and the number of primary care physicians is decreasing. To fill the looming gaps, APNs want to ensure they are allowed to practice to the fullest extent of their training.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
THE FLOOR IS YOURS
The new healthcare reform law will bring about substantial changes to our health system. Meanwhile, the fundamental elements of health policy to improve quality, lower cost, enhance access, and maintain patient autonomy were, at best, marginally addressed in the bill.
Steven M. Coplon, MHA, CMPE - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
MEDICAL ECONOMICS: The Rise of Medical Practice Embezzlement
The Medical Group Management Association says that practice embezzlement has been on the rise the last couple of years and is continuing to rise. Three out of four physicians will suffer some financial loss from employee dishonestly during their career. “Over a five year period, over three quarters of practices will experience some type of embezzlement or theft. And the sad thing is that seventy percent have done this in previous practices in which they have worked,” said Libby Wren, CMPE, Practice Administrator, Ear, Nose and Throat Group.
BILL APPLING - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Rex Amonette, MD
Rex Amonette, MD, revels in the science of medicine. As a dermatologist, he treats patients with melanomas, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Skin cancer can grow on any part of the skin, from the ears and scalp to arms and legs, anywhere, perhaps, except the soles of the feet. For many years, the standard way of removing a cancer from the skin was to cut it away or use radiation therapy. Doctors then relied on their observational skills to determine whether the procedure had been a success.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010 5:22 pm |
Before the Breathin' Air is Gone
Luring Physicians "Out in the Country"
Grady, S.C., was one of the lucky rural communities. Unfortunately, it was fictional.
In the 1991 film "Doc Hollywood" with Michael J. Fox, the Porsche Speedster of hotshot plastic surgeon Benjamin Stone breaks down in Grady, and the charms of the community, its people and one woman in particular entice the young physician to hang his family-practice shingle in the rural Southeast.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
Breaking Through the OR Glass Ceiling
Women Making Strides in Pursuit of Surgery
When interviewing for postgraduate residency positions soon after giving birth to her third child, Sharona Ross, MD, was very hesitant to bring up the subject of children. She was concerned that divulging having an infant and two small children at home would hinder her chances for a career in surgery.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
MedTenn 2010
TMA Covers Wide Range of Issues at 175th Meeting
Last month, the Tennessee Medical Association convened in Nashville for the organization's 175th annual meeting. The TMA represents the professional interests of more than 7,800 physicians and 44 component medical societies statewide.
Cindy Sanders - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
HEALTHCARE LEADER: Anita Vaughn
It's hard to separate Anita Vaughn, CEO, from Anita Vaughn, citizen of Memphis; so much of her spirit, her goals and her visions are invested in the landmark hospital she planned, built, manages, and clearly loves.
JUDY OTTO - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
In the Mainstream: QSource’s Portfolio Expands Well Beyond Government Contract Work
When Memphis-based QSource was unveiled as the Health Information Technology (HIT) Regional Extension Center (REC) for Tennessee as part of a $1 billion American Recovery & Reinvestment Act investment, some business leaders unfamiliar with its work believed it might be a new company formed to provide local technical assistance to effectively implement electronic health records (EHRs) and associated healthcare quality improvement.
Not so.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
Making Sense: University of Memphis Health Law Forum Speakers Decipher Sweeping Changes for Local Healthcare Professionals
Nearly 100 local healthcare professionals representing nonprofit organizations, private companies, law firms and government entities gathered in late March for a day-long forum at the first annual University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Health Law and Public Policy Symposium. The event, which was presented in partnership with the law firm of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, and sponsored by Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was chock full of tidbits covering industry trends and regulatory changes in the Memphis medical landscape.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
Tennessee Takes on Obesity
Changing Mindsets from Fat to Fit
With the warmer weather comes the realization that 'bathing suit season' is just around the corner. Once upon a time, this was enough to strike fear in the hearts of both men and women who hoped to lose five pounds by Memorial Day. It didn't bother kids in the least … because children were already lean and strong from playing outdoors and eating healthy, family meals.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
Aiming High
Healthy Memphis Common Table Shows Shelby County Doctors Provide Diabetes Care Exceeding National Benchmarks; Work Needed on Women’s Health
Shelby County physicians are providing diabetes care that exceeds national benchmarks, according to findings released by the local nonprofit collaborative Healthy Memphis Common Table, but there’s room for improvement in women’s health.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
MEDICAL ECONOMICS: The Integration of Physicians and Hospitals
Four years ago healthcare trend experts predicted increased competition between physicians and hospitals, and the difficult decisions on whether hospitals were going to compete with physicians or find joint venture opportunities in working together.
BILL APPLING - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
Susan Murrmann, MD
Sit in the waiting room of McDonald Murrmann Women's Clinic PLC and you'll find the usual pamphlets on women's healthcare. But you'll also be treated to this: a well-produced video extolling the benefits of laser treatments for aging and blemished skin. What makes it noteworthy is that those services are offered through McDonald Murrmann's offices. Susan Murrmann, MD, is one of Memphis' more progressive obstetrician/gynecologists. She specializes in robotic and minimally invasive surgery, is a menopause specialist, and delivers babies through the practice she co-founded with business partner, Mary McDonald, MD. But five years ago, the two started a second practice, the McDonald Murrmann Center for Skin, Laser, and Healthy Aging, an esthetics business for which Murrmann serves as medical director.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
Spotlight on Cancer: Genitourinary Cancer Research and The West Clinic
West Clinic Selected For International Trial Investigating Adjuvant Treatment of Renal Cell Carcinoma
The West Clinic has been selected to participate in a prestigious international clinical trial for the adjuvant treatment of renal cell carcinoma. The Phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial will evaluate oral Sutent or placebo for one year of therapy in the adjuvant setting. The primary end point is disease-free survival. The West Clinic is one of a select few sites in the US selected to participate in the trial.
Brad S. Somer, MD - Posted: Monday, May 17, 2010 11:49 am |
Healthcare Leaders: John Lewis – Administrator, Semmes-Murphey Neurologic & Spine Institute
Every administrator in the medical industry, regardless of specialty, is working to keep their practices afloat in the current market. Strategies to increase efficiency and quality are vital for survival in an uncertain healthcare climate. John Lewis, administrator at Semmes-Murphey Neurologic & Spine Institute, oversees the placement and operation of systems that make that possible.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Monday, April 19, 2010 2:17 pm |
A Developing Landscape
Semmes-Murphey Neuro Institute Chair Clarence Watridge Discusses Brain Procedure Improvements, Challenges
Clarence B. Watridge, MD, remembers learning in medical school when brain surgery was so likely to result in death that the hair shaved from the scalp prior to the scalp opening was saved for use by the undertaker—just in case.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Fibromyalgia: A Disease Without a Medical Home
"Ideally, It Would Be Neurology," Expert Says
Rae Marie Gleason, executive director of the National Fibromyalgia Association, said the tendency still exists among physicians to view fibromyalgia as "an illness of whining women who really could get better if they just wanted to." Yet, Gleason's job gets easier every day, as an abundance of research ties those patients' complaints to brain activity – or lack thereof.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Stroke Conference Unveils Promising Science
The International Stroke Conference, held in February in San Antonio, offered neurologists a wealth of research abstracts and late-breaking stroke science. Here are some of the findings presented.
Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Healthcare Real Estate Outlook
Looking for Silver Linings in Cloudy Skies
Turn on the television; open any paper, and it’s clear the American housing market has been in a freefall for more than a year. For the most part, the commercial sectors have followed suit.
Cindy Sanders - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Healthcare Reform Passes
President Signs Landmark Legislation
The president needed 216. He got 219. By the slimmest of margins … and without a single Republican vote … the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 21.
Cindy Sanders - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
A Word From the Front Office: Healthcare CEOs Have Their Say
Healthcare reform, hospital/physician relationships, and the MED's future were all talking points for healthcare leaders last month. Members of the Mid-South Health Care Executives (MHCE) heard from four local healthcare CEOs during their March meeting. The roundtable discussion was hosted by MHCE's president Mike McCormack. Approximately 50 people attended the dinner, which was held at the Fogelman Executive Center's dining room on the University of Memphis campus.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
MEDICAL ECONOMICS: Strategic Planning: An Overview
Transparency: Insurance companies talk it but do not walk it.
Webster’s Dictionary defines transparency as a picture made visible by light from behind. If that is the case, then the insurance companies must be using the lowest voltage manufactured.
BILL APPLING - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Recoupment of Federal Healthcare Dollars: Different Approaches
A Comparison of the Medicaid and Medicare Recovery Audits
While the words "fraud and abuse" may have diminished in use, they have been replaced with the latest catch phrases "improper payments" and "recovery audits." Both Medicare and Medicaid are active in their efforts to remain true to their agency’s survival during this financial crisis through the audit processes.
BETTY HATTEN, HORNE LLP - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Developing Clinical Nurses
Nursing Institute's First Federal Competitive Grant Boosts Mid South Healthcare Workforce
When Paula Spears, PhD, learned the grant application she authored was selected as the Nursing Institute of the Mid South (NIMS) Inc.’s first federal competitive grant to boost the nursing workforce across the region, she was understandably ecstatic.
LYNNE JETER and MARCEA NEITMAN - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
L. Madison Michael II, M.D.
Once upon a time, before delving into the mysteries of the brain, Madison Michael scaled mountains. A graduate of the University of the South at Sewanee and eager for challenge, Michael headed west after college to take up mountain climbing. He eventually supported himself as a mountaineering guide in Wyoming, where he led climbing groups up the rugged Tetons.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Memphis Healthcare Real Estate Update
The landmark health care reform package is expected to drive demand for medical facilities in the years to come. The sheer number of patients that will be added into the insurance system, 32 million individuals by 2019, will increase the need for both on and off campus medical office buildings, outpatient facilities, and ambulatory care facilities. The roles of nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants will expand to help the demand for primary care services. A portion of the bill eliminates the exception for physician owned hospitals under the Stark Law and grandfathers existing hospitals with a Medicare provider number as of December 31, 2010. Until physician groups fully understand how changes in reimbursements will affect their practices, healthcare facility dollars need to be analyzed and spent more wisely.
Laura Carpenter - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
HOT TOPICS IN HEALTH LAW
Physicians Beware: Supervise Your Nurse Practitioners And Physician Assistants
In a case that some pro-physician lawyers believe is one of the worst cases for Tennessee physicians in over a decade, the Tennessee Court of Appeals recently determined that the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners rule 0880-2.18(7) governing physician oversight of physician assistants is not merely an administrative requirement, but actually establishes a “standard of care.” This new holding may allow plaintiffs to prove that a physician who supervises or precepts a physician assistant or nurse practitioner was negligent without the necessity of an expert to testify that the physician fell below the standard of medical care.
Angela Youngberg - Posted: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:23 pm |
Spotlight On Cancer: GI Cancer Research and The West Clinic
Cancer of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract accounts for over 15% of new cancer cases and deaths from cancer in men and women. Colorectal cancer (CRC) particularly remains a large problem with nearly 150,000 Americans developing this disease and 50,000 dying from it each year.
Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, FACP - Posted: Monday, March 15, 2010 11:27 am |
Disruptive Behavior is Bad for Patients
Survey Reveals Troubling Conduct in the Healthcare Environment
Being a good member of a team means playing well with others, but a recent survey by the American College of Physician Executives reveals that disruptive behavior by professional members of healthcare teams compromises patient safety, undermines cooperation and makes going to work a miserable experience.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Practice Managers Navigate Labyrinth Maze
UT Medical Group CEO Discusses Challenges, Changes
Managing the rate of change in healthcare has been the most challenging aspect of the job for practice managers, said Steven Burkett, CEO of UT Medical Group, one of the southeast’s largest practice management groups.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Making the DNA Connection
St. Jude Partners to ID Genetic Changes Resulting in Childhood Cancer
During an unprecedented Memphis winter by contemporary standards, St. Jude researchers were connecting on another unprecedented event: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis announced a collaboration to identify the genetic changes that expose some of the world’s deadliest childhood cancers.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Mapping Out a Plan of Attack
The Cancer Genome Atlas Provides Repository for Data, Discoveries
The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a comprehensive effort to create a data repository for the discoveries and findings of more than 150 of the nation’s top researchers who are working in concert on specific cancer types. These scientists, who are based out of more than two dozen renowned institutions, are systematically mapping genomic changes to create a cancer atlas accessible to all who are searching for better methods to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Making Headway in Brain Cancer
TCGA Data Generates New Findings for Glioblastoma Multiforme
Through the work of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), researchers have confirmed the most common form of malignant brain cancer in adults, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), isn’t one disease as once believed but is, instead, four distinct molecular subtypes.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
HEALTHCARE LEADER: Steven H. Burkett - CEO, UT Medical Group, Inc.
When Steven Burkett was working in Memphis as a parole officer for the Tennessee Department of Corrections on the heels of college graduation, he was eyeing a career in medicine.
"I wanted to go to medical school, but chemistry tripped me up," said Burkett, who joined UT Medical Group (then Faculty Medical Practice Corporation) in Memphis in the mid-1970s as a department manager.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Taking Hope to Haiti
Le Bonheur Team Delivers Relief to Earthquake Victims
Though there were countless patients Dr. Sunny Anand’s team from Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center treated during their two-week stay in Haiti last month, one remains indelibly etched in his memory. Anand described him as an older gentleman who’d sustained serious injuries to his leg from falling debris during the earthquake.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Medical Economics: Managing Overhead
Particularly in today’s medical practice, controlling costs is among the most important management functions.
Poor processes or cost controls prohibit a practice operating efficiently. If physicians do not receive paychecks in line with their productivity, it is time to take corrective action.
BILL APPLING - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Finding Money in the Microbiology Laboratory
While several laboratory sections are very straightforward in coding and billing, such as chemistry and hematology, the micro lab has numerous "add on" procedures that are routinely performed to complete the culture report. Frequently, add on charges are never captured.
BETTY HATTEN, HORNE LLP - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Readying for Another Round of Audits
Medicaid Integrity Program Audits Coming Soon to Tennessee
Just when you thought you were beginning to get a handle on RAC ... here comes MIP, ZPIC and OIG. More than just another round of the federal government’s favorite game of "Guess the Acronym," these particular letters could spell big trouble for providers across the nation.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
Edward Muir, MD
Oncologist with the Jones Clinic
For Mike and April Miller, cancer was a word that once held no meaning, had no relevance to their young, busy lives. But the year Mike turned 30, all that changed. Though Mike was seemingly the picture of health, unexplained bruises and bleeding gums began to worry him. So he scheduled a doctor’s appointment one Friday, where he received a thorough exam, and his blood work went to the lab. The visit seemed routine.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:31 am |
RAC ‘n’ Roll
Recovery Audit Contracting Rolled Out Nationwide
After several years of anticipation, the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program was set for nationwide rollout last month. Despite the notice, many Medicare providers still are not adequately prepared to respond to a request for records.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
Mayo Clinic Software Answers Cardiology’s HIT Need
Kardia Health Brings Technology to the Market
With cardiologists spread thin and reimbursements for their services declining, the key to survival is improved efficiency. That’s according to Doug Marinaro, the chief operating officer of Minnesota-based Kardia Health Systems. The three-year-old company is working to put cardiology-focused health information technology developed by the renowned Mayo Clinic into the hands of providers.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
Legislative Agendas: State Associations Weigh In On 2010 Priorities
By all accounts 2010 is shaping up to be a tough year to lobby for any legislation tied to a fiscal note. As Sharon Adkins, MSN, RN, executive director of the Tennessee Nurses Association succinctly noted, “Anything with a dollar sign is dead in the water.”
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
The MED Names New CEO
Reginald Coopwood Takes Reins March 1
Leading candidate Reginald Coopwood, MD, will assume the position of CEO of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED) on March 1, during a pivotal time in the facility’s development. The MED made headlines last fall when the Board voted to close the Emergency Department if $32 million could not be raised to sustain the regional safety net hospital for residents within a 150-mile radius.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
Doctors for the Delta Program Bringing Foreign Doctors to Memphis Area
Memphis has more flexibility to recruit international physicians to alleviate its doctor shortage than perhaps any metro area in the country, thanks to the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) Doctors for the Delta program. As a result of that program, 25 foreign doctors have been placed to fill critical needs in the Memphis area, and another five in neighboring counties in Mississippi and Arkansas.
BECKY GILLETTE - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
Doctor Indicted in Bombing Attack of West Memphis Physician
“Retaliation” Said To Be Motive
A federal grand jury has indicted Randeep Mann, MD, 51, of London, Ark., in the bombing attack that nearly killed fellow physician Trent Pierce of West Memphis last February, authorities announced Jan. 6.
STEVE BRAWNER - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
Methodist Ready for Next Hurdle
DeSoto CON Opposition Hearing Slated for March
So far, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has submitted the only certificate of need (CON) application to the Mississippi Board of Health for a new hospital in DeSoto County.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP: Rose Lindsey-Giulian
Director of Quality and Medical Management
In her 25-year tenure with the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation, Rose Lindsey-Giulian, RN, RHIA, PhD, administrator for quality, case management and infection prevention, has seen tremendous change. Born in Lima, Peru, she came to the U.S. to become a nurse and quickly developed a passion for the administrative side of medicine.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
MEDICAL ECONOMICS: Strategic Planning: An Overview
Sharing the Plan of the Medical Group Management Association and American College of Medical Practice Executives
All of strategic planning starts with a vision and mission statement and conveys the values of an organization before you can move on with the goals. Vision is what and where we want to be in the distant future. Mission is the foundation or our existence and operations. Goals are timeless, unbounded statements that describe what the world will be like as a result of what we do.
BILL APPLING - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
TECH CONNECT: Methodist North Unveils SPECT/CT
New Diagnostic Technology Delivers Less Radiation Than Competitors
Methodist North Hospital recently unveiled new diagnostic technology that delivers less radiation than previous available technology in the Memphis metro area.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
RESEARCH REPORT: UTHSC Wins $1.3 Million Grant
Investigators to Study Health Disparities Research
A team of investigators at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will examine health disparities in connection to race and other social determinants of health in Memphis and Shelby County, thanks to a $1.3 million grant from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
Frank McGrew III, MD, Heart Hunter
Thumb through cardiologist Frank McGrew’s photo album from his recent trip to South Africa, and you’ll see him pictured not in whites, but camouflage. Kneeling in the dusky morning light, McGrew, the hunter, smiles proudly at the camera, posing with the impressive trophies he’s taken from the veldt while on safari: a bush hog, wildebeest, zebra, kudu… even the fearsome Cape buffalo.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:07 pm |
Reginald Coopwood, MD, Named CEO of The MED
Leading candidate Reginald Coopwood, MD, has accepted the job as CEO of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED). Coopwood will assume the position on March 1, during a pivotal time in the facility’s development. The MED made headlines last fall when the Board voted to close the Emergency Department if $32 million could not be raised to sustain the Memphis area’s largest public healthcare facility.
Posted: Thursday, January 21, 2010 3:22 pm |
Marketing a Specialty Practice to Other Docs
A Practice's "Lifeblood," One Expert Says
"Your most important asset." That's what one healthcare marketing expert called a specialty physician's referral base, and he said way too many specialists are failing to nurture the relationship between their practice and the doctors who send them business.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
Bringing up the "O" Word
Clinicians Still Struggle to Broach Subject of Weight
My word, you're fat! Someone go see if Mr. Jones broke our scale.
While no provider (at least none we know) would bring up the sensitive subject of weight in this manner, there are many who feel that no matter how carefully words are chosen, a patient will process them as something similarly offensive.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
Get Fit TN
State Provides Tools to Help Residents Shape Up
New decade … same old resolutions.
At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, Tennesseans from the northeast corner to the Mississippi River made similar vows … to make 2010 the year they finally lose weight/quit smoking/start exercising. In short, this is the year to get healthier.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
Tackling Obesity in Kids
Americans are junk food junkies. And our steady diet of fast food and sodas is costing us our health. Nowhere is that reality more evident than in America’s children, whose poor eating habits are resulting in an alarming rise in the prevalence of hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, and obesity. It’s a reality pediatrician Janice Pride-Boone, MD, sees everyday in her practice, where she specializes in the treatment of childhood obesity.
JANE SCHNEIDER - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
A MED Reprieve?
Portal for Uninsured May Remain Open
MEMPHIS—Shelby County Mayor Joe Ford and the Shelby County Commission may have come up with a way to keep the doors open to the Emergency Department of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED).
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
HEALTHCARE LEADERS: Kevin M. Spiegel – CEO Methodist University Hospital
Kevin Spiegel joined Methodist University Hospital in March 2008 to help evolve the system in the rapidly changing world of healthcare. Since taking on the role as senior vice president and CEO of the hospital, he has ambitiously executed goals to expand the collaboration abilities of the hospital – including garnering an affiliation with Columbia University Medical Center’s Heartsourcesm to establish a Methodist University Hospital cardiothoracic surgery and cardiology quality assurance program. Methodist has also received center of excellence recognition for stroke and cardiac care, excellence in transplantation, and the robotic surgery program reached its 100th case.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
Medical Economics: Physician Marketing: Where Do I Put My Dollars?
The allocation of marketing dollars will be an even more challenging decision after healthcare reform. We will continue to see medical groups identifying their competitors, as well as how to maintain their existing patient base and how to grow. The question is, what do we have to tackle today to make a good tomorrow?
BILL APPLING - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
Virginia Weaver, MD
When a patient walks into Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss, they’ve already tried everything else. The typical patient could be male or female, and the ages range from kids to seniors. This is their last resort when they seek the services of Virginia Weaver, MD, medical director of the center.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:33 am |
"Recession Depression" a Growing Mental Health Concern
Economic Woes Take a Toll
You've heard the joke: It's a recession if you lose your job; it's a depression if I lose mine. Whatever you want to call the nation's economic downturn, it's downright depressing, say mental health professionals, and a recent survey confirms that the economy is taking its toll on Americans' mental health.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD - Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
Transparency: It's Clear Pharmacists, PBM Associations Caught in Contentious Debate
On the face of it, both the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) "strongly support" the principle of transparency within the pharmaceutical industry. Scratch the surface, however, and the two associations have very different ideas about what the concept of transparency means and how it should be enacted. Both claim their viewpoint is best for the bottom line.
CINDY SANDERS - Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
Saving The MED?
Arkansas and Mississippi Weigh In
When news spread about The MED possibly closing its Emergency Department by Feb. 1 if it cannot secure $32 million in additional funds, state governments in neighboring Arkansas and Mississippi—whose residents also frequent the Memphis hospital—took another look at their involvement.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
LEADERS IN HEALTHCARE: Michael Cates, Executive Director, Memphis Medical Society
Frustrations over reform are at the brink, concerns are high and solutions are still desperately needed. One organization that has been at the forefront of advocating for physicians is the Memphis Medical Society. For more than 130 years, the Society has organized physician efforts and lobbied for their causes in the state and nation's capitols.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
Future Healthcare Leaders
I am literally composing this article the day after the House passed their version of the healthcare reform bill, by an extremely close margin of 220 for and 215 against.
On the house floor, Democratic leaders appealed to members' sense of history, reminding them this was one of the most significant votes, short of war, that they were likely to take. This is an interesting analogy. The future of the American Health System is being drafted by individuals that are distanced from the average American seeking healthcare. Not to sound too critical of members of Congress, I am reminded of a quote by Sir Winston Churchill, "One lesson I have learned in life is that even fools get it right every now and then."
Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
Common Table Update: Methodist North Chosen for Cardiac Care Collaborative
We are pleased to announce that Methodist North Hospital has been selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to participate in a new effort to improve the quality and equality of cardiac care delivered in hospitals to racial and ethnic minority populations. The Aligning Forces for Quality: Equity Quality Improvement Collaborative (Equity QI Collaborative) will identify and test ways for hospitals to improve the quality of their cardiac care, while also identifying and reducing any racial and ethnic disparities.
Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
Another Twist on Red Flag Rules
Defining "Creditor" Has Many Implications
Implementation of the Red Flag Rules has been postponed again—until June 1, 2010—as legislation is snaking through Congress that would allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to exempt healthcare and legal professions of 20 or fewer employees from the rule mandated by the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
LYNNE JETER - Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: Robert Buchalter, MD
Fascinated by the inner workings of the mind, psychiatrist Robert Buchalter, MD, has spent his career learning how the brain works and utilizing his knowledge to treat patients. The variety of personalities and emotional issues he deals with ensure his job is never boring.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE - Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 5:12 pm |
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