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ACR Asks for Relief
The American College of Rheumatology said that “patient access to necessary care will be compromised” if parts of the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule are implemented as proposed. Specifically, the ACR asked for reversal of existing policies on consultation codes and the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative program. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ACR President Stanley Cohen said that the CMS's decision to eliminate reimbursable consultation codes has been “devastating” to rheumatologists. On PQRI, he said that physicians too often lose out on deserved quality payments when they inadvertently file incorrect reports, an event that also can publicly label them as poor-quality providers. “The ACR requests that CMS implement a program to instruct physicians on proper reporting,” Dr. Cohen wrote.
Study: Mistake Policies Needed
When several patients are affected by a medical mistake — even one that probably will harm none of them — the event ought to be disclosed to the public, said authors of a study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (N. Engl. J. Med. 2010;363:978-86). The authors said that “large-scale adverse events” from around the world have included everything from malfunctioning to poorly sterilized lab equipment. They advocated timely disclosure of such mistakes to government authorities, to potentially affected patients, and to the media. Health care facilities should follow up on possible physical and psychological effects of adverse events. In a statement, AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy said, “It's clear that health care organizations face a dilemma regarding disclosure of large-scale adverse events — whether these events lead to patient harm or not.”
Stop-Smoking Coverage Expanded
Physicians will be reimbursed for counseling any Medicare patient about smoking cessation, not just those with tobacco-related illness, under new guidelines approved by the CMS. Previously, a patient needed to at least show signs of illness related to smoking before Medicare would pay. Now, any smoker covered by Medicare can have up to eight smoking cessation sessions per year from a physician or another Medicare-recognized health practitioner, CMS said. American Medical Association President Cecil Wilson applauded the coverage expansion. “More than 400,000 Americans die needlessly every year as a direct result of tobacco use,” Dr. Wilson said in a statement. “This expansion of coverage takes an important step toward helping Medicare patients lead healthier, tobacco-free lives.”
$14 Million for Minority Research
Economic stimulus funds totalling $14.2 million have been allocated to “patient-centered outcomes research” among racial and ethnic minorities with diseases including arthritis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced. The money is part of the $1.1 billion earmarked for outcomes research in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. “Patient-centered outcomes research must become a critical part of our strategy as a nation to understand and eliminate health disparities,” said John Ruffin, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Worries About Pharma Influence
Almost 70% of Americans who take prescription drugs believe that drug makers have too much influence over doctors when it comes to those prescriptions, and 50% believe that doctors prescribe drugs even when a person's condition could be managed without medication. The data are the result of a Consumer Reports magazine poll. On the basis of the survey of more than 1,150 adults, the magazine asserted that 51% of Americans don't think their doctors consider patients' ability to pay for prescribed drugs, 47% think gifts from pharmaceutical companies influence doctors' drug choices, 41% think their doctors tend to prescribe newer and more expensive drugs, and 20% have asked for a drug they've seen advertised. In those cases, 59% of the respondents said their doctors prescribed what they requested.
Deals Keep Generics Off Market
Branded- and generic-drug manufacturers have made at least 21 deals so far this year that potentially delay the production of cheaper, generic versions of existing brand-name drugs, the Federal Trade Commission said. In three-quarters of the settlements reported to the FTC, the branded- and generic-drug makers came to terms without money changing hands. The agency, which is attempting to crack down on these “pay-for-delay” deals, told congressional lawmakers that generic- and branded-drug manufacturers inked 19 such deals in 2009, and 16 in 2008. The 2010 deals protect $9 billion in brand-name drug sales from generic competition, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz told a House subcommittee. The FTC estimated that “pay-for-delay” deals cost consumers $3.5 billion each year.
ACR Asks for Relief
The American College of Rheumatology said that “patient access to necessary care will be compromised” if parts of the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule are implemented as proposed. Specifically, the ACR asked for reversal of existing policies on consultation codes and the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative program. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ACR President Stanley Cohen said that the CMS's decision to eliminate reimbursable consultation codes has been “devastating” to rheumatologists. On PQRI, he said that physicians too often lose out on deserved quality payments when they inadvertently file incorrect reports, an event that also can publicly label them as poor-quality providers. “The ACR requests that CMS implement a program to instruct physicians on proper reporting,” Dr. Cohen wrote.
Study: Mistake Policies Needed
When several patients are affected by a medical mistake — even one that probably will harm none of them — the event ought to be disclosed to the public, said authors of a study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (N. Engl. J. Med. 2010;363:978-86). The authors said that “large-scale adverse events” from around the world have included everything from malfunctioning to poorly sterilized lab equipment. They advocated timely disclosure of such mistakes to government authorities, to potentially affected patients, and to the media. Health care facilities should follow up on possible physical and psychological effects of adverse events. In a statement, AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy said, “It's clear that health care organizations face a dilemma regarding disclosure of large-scale adverse events — whether these events lead to patient harm or not.”
Stop-Smoking Coverage Expanded
Physicians will be reimbursed for counseling any Medicare patient about smoking cessation, not just those with tobacco-related illness, under new guidelines approved by the CMS. Previously, a patient needed to at least show signs of illness related to smoking before Medicare would pay. Now, any smoker covered by Medicare can have up to eight smoking cessation sessions per year from a physician or another Medicare-recognized health practitioner, CMS said. American Medical Association President Cecil Wilson applauded the coverage expansion. “More than 400,000 Americans die needlessly every year as a direct result of tobacco use,” Dr. Wilson said in a statement. “This expansion of coverage takes an important step toward helping Medicare patients lead healthier, tobacco-free lives.”
$14 Million for Minority Research
Economic stimulus funds totalling $14.2 million have been allocated to “patient-centered outcomes research” among racial and ethnic minorities with diseases including arthritis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced. The money is part of the $1.1 billion earmarked for outcomes research in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. “Patient-centered outcomes research must become a critical part of our strategy as a nation to understand and eliminate health disparities,” said John Ruffin, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Worries About Pharma Influence
Almost 70% of Americans who take prescription drugs believe that drug makers have too much influence over doctors when it comes to those prescriptions, and 50% believe that doctors prescribe drugs even when a person's condition could be managed without medication. The data are the result of a Consumer Reports magazine poll. On the basis of the survey of more than 1,150 adults, the magazine asserted that 51% of Americans don't think their doctors consider patients' ability to pay for prescribed drugs, 47% think gifts from pharmaceutical companies influence doctors' drug choices, 41% think their doctors tend to prescribe newer and more expensive drugs, and 20% have asked for a drug they've seen advertised. In those cases, 59% of the respondents said their doctors prescribed what they requested.
Deals Keep Generics Off Market
Branded- and generic-drug manufacturers have made at least 21 deals so far this year that potentially delay the production of cheaper, generic versions of existing brand-name drugs, the Federal Trade Commission said. In three-quarters of the settlements reported to the FTC, the branded- and generic-drug makers came to terms without money changing hands. The agency, which is attempting to crack down on these “pay-for-delay” deals, told congressional lawmakers that generic- and branded-drug manufacturers inked 19 such deals in 2009, and 16 in 2008. The 2010 deals protect $9 billion in brand-name drug sales from generic competition, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz told a House subcommittee. The FTC estimated that “pay-for-delay” deals cost consumers $3.5 billion each year.
ACR Asks for Relief
The American College of Rheumatology said that “patient access to necessary care will be compromised” if parts of the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule are implemented as proposed. Specifically, the ACR asked for reversal of existing policies on consultation codes and the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative program. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ACR President Stanley Cohen said that the CMS's decision to eliminate reimbursable consultation codes has been “devastating” to rheumatologists. On PQRI, he said that physicians too often lose out on deserved quality payments when they inadvertently file incorrect reports, an event that also can publicly label them as poor-quality providers. “The ACR requests that CMS implement a program to instruct physicians on proper reporting,” Dr. Cohen wrote.
Study: Mistake Policies Needed
When several patients are affected by a medical mistake — even one that probably will harm none of them — the event ought to be disclosed to the public, said authors of a study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (N. Engl. J. Med. 2010;363:978-86). The authors said that “large-scale adverse events” from around the world have included everything from malfunctioning to poorly sterilized lab equipment. They advocated timely disclosure of such mistakes to government authorities, to potentially affected patients, and to the media. Health care facilities should follow up on possible physical and psychological effects of adverse events. In a statement, AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy said, “It's clear that health care organizations face a dilemma regarding disclosure of large-scale adverse events — whether these events lead to patient harm or not.”
Stop-Smoking Coverage Expanded
Physicians will be reimbursed for counseling any Medicare patient about smoking cessation, not just those with tobacco-related illness, under new guidelines approved by the CMS. Previously, a patient needed to at least show signs of illness related to smoking before Medicare would pay. Now, any smoker covered by Medicare can have up to eight smoking cessation sessions per year from a physician or another Medicare-recognized health practitioner, CMS said. American Medical Association President Cecil Wilson applauded the coverage expansion. “More than 400,000 Americans die needlessly every year as a direct result of tobacco use,” Dr. Wilson said in a statement. “This expansion of coverage takes an important step toward helping Medicare patients lead healthier, tobacco-free lives.”
$14 Million for Minority Research
Economic stimulus funds totalling $14.2 million have been allocated to “patient-centered outcomes research” among racial and ethnic minorities with diseases including arthritis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced. The money is part of the $1.1 billion earmarked for outcomes research in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. “Patient-centered outcomes research must become a critical part of our strategy as a nation to understand and eliminate health disparities,” said John Ruffin, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Worries About Pharma Influence
Almost 70% of Americans who take prescription drugs believe that drug makers have too much influence over doctors when it comes to those prescriptions, and 50% believe that doctors prescribe drugs even when a person's condition could be managed without medication. The data are the result of a Consumer Reports magazine poll. On the basis of the survey of more than 1,150 adults, the magazine asserted that 51% of Americans don't think their doctors consider patients' ability to pay for prescribed drugs, 47% think gifts from pharmaceutical companies influence doctors' drug choices, 41% think their doctors tend to prescribe newer and more expensive drugs, and 20% have asked for a drug they've seen advertised. In those cases, 59% of the respondents said their doctors prescribed what they requested.
Deals Keep Generics Off Market
Branded- and generic-drug manufacturers have made at least 21 deals so far this year that potentially delay the production of cheaper, generic versions of existing brand-name drugs, the Federal Trade Commission said. In three-quarters of the settlements reported to the FTC, the branded- and generic-drug makers came to terms without money changing hands. The agency, which is attempting to crack down on these “pay-for-delay” deals, told congressional lawmakers that generic- and branded-drug manufacturers inked 19 such deals in 2009, and 16 in 2008. The 2010 deals protect $9 billion in brand-name drug sales from generic competition, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz told a House subcommittee. The FTC estimated that “pay-for-delay” deals cost consumers $3.5 billion each year.