April, 2014
- Radiologists hit hard by CT code bundling
- $13.35 billion dollar deal – Zimmer Holdings acquires Biomet, a musculoskeletal and biotechnology manufacturer
- April 2014 CBO report on ACA
- The AHA says the financial risks of ACO participation outweigh the rewards
- Prime Healthcare, with 25 hospitals in six states, has spent more than $700 million dollars in equipment and capital improvements
- S&P lowers faltering Daughters of Charity Health System in California six notches
- Philips temporarily halts production at Cleveland plant
- The brain is a lazy decision maker
- Another causality of lower ACA volumes: Da Vinci robotic systems sales continues to fall
- ‘Obamacare’ Is More Than Exchanges
Important charts and information on Medicare Expansion, ACO locations, and readmission rates across the US
- Compact ultrasound has developed into a market of $1 billion
Driven by the idea that handheld ultrasound can be the modern day version of the stethoscope the POC (point of care) ultrasound market is exploding. GE, Fuji and a rash of other venders have rushed in with products. Ultrasound is an growing and important imaging modality with the advantage of not using ionizing radiation. However the clinical efficacy of POC ultrasound hasn't been proven. This article notes the challenges of POC Ultrasound and believes smaller mobile ultrasound is the answer, not hand-held units. In Ultrasound size does matter.
- Inside Obamacare – Forbes primer on the ACA law and how it impacts US Healthcare
- Another form of rationing from CMS with 20,000 lives at stake
- CMS spares Medicare Advantage from the Axe, at least for now
- Five health systems dominate the landscape of Colorado’s urban corridor
- Help Prospects See The Inconsistencies In Their Thinking To Break Status Quo
Changing someone’s mind “isn’t a question of pushing new information on people and trying to explain it in words. It’s more about helping people see the inconsistency in themselves and then all of a sudden the mental model will shift naturally and easily,”
- Fast, High Definition, Low Dose: GE Healthcare Announces FDA Clearance Of Revolution CT
Today, more than 70 million CT scans are done per year in the U.S. with tremendous clinical value. However, CT still has challenges with patients that have high heart rate, metallic implants, and non-compliant patients. The Revolution CT is able to address these challenging patients
- Radiology ranks No. 7 of Medicare highest-paid specialties
The information also revealed which diagnostic radiology providers earned the most Medicare dollars in 2012:
- Dr. Angelo Makris, Alexandria, VA -- $5.6 million
- Dr. Paul Svigals, Cherry Hill, NJ -- $5.1 million
- Dr. Stephen Liu, Modesto, CA -- $4.6 million
- Dr. Thanh Van, Houston -- $3.6 million
- Dr. Anthony Becker, Fresno, CA -- $3.5 million
- Dr. Robert Ivker, West Orange, NJ -- $3.5 million
- Dr. William Kelly, Palm Desert, CA -- $3 million
- Dr. John Rigney, Chappaqua, NY -- $3 million
- Dr. Patrick Browning, Sacramento, CA -- $2.9 million
- Dr. Richard Gray, Washington, DC -- $2.8 million
- Dr. Melvin Rosenblatt, Fairfield, CT -- $2.8 million
- Employed physicians are less productive and others have to pick up the slack
- Walgreens is a major buyer of medical equipment and supplies as it expands its healthcare business
- Donald M. Berwick discusses “Triple Aim” must know facts on the direction of US Healthcare
- Stryker sees 77% drop in first-quarter earnings
- Helping hospitals prevent HIPAA violations can be very profitable
Kaiser has had its fourth HIPAA breach. "To date, more than 30.6 million individuals have had their PHI compromised in a large HIPAA privacy or security breach -- breaches involving more than 500 people -- according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. HIPAA-covered entities and, now, business associates, have handed over some $18.6 million to settle alleged federal HIPAA violations, with $3.7 million of that just from last year. And this isn't counting the state and private legal settlements."
- Radiation dose safety: Filtering the message from the noise
- Healthcare providers face another revenue hit as Medicare proposes to cut same-day surgery reimbursment
- CBO reports ACA will save the goverment money
- The hot MedTech technology to be selling in the next few years
- CMS reveals Medicare physician pay data
The American Medical Association fought a 35-year battle against the release of this data. Guess they don’t believe in transparency either. Routine office visits accounted for the single largest share of Medicare physician billings in 2012 even though they amounted to just one-seventh of the $77 billion paid by the government for physician services through the nation's senior citizen healthcare program.
