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The ABIM admits they screwed up on MOCs. They will continue with the tests but with different stress. The Practice Assessment, Patient Voice and Patient Safety sections will be redone. They will also change the language from meeting or not meeting MOC requirements to participating or not participating. For lifetime members MOC is not required. They will also recognize most if not all ACCME activities for self assessment.
The residents at Howard University have voted to unionize. They will join the Committee of Interns and Residents. Good on them
Dr. Robert Taub of Columbia University has been removed from his post as the director of the Mesothelioma Center. He is accused of referring patients from the center to a PI firm who paid the New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver over $3 million. In return Taub got public money for is research and also became an expert witness for the firm. Silver is now under indictment for corruption and Taub is cooperating in the prosecution. One wonders if he will be paid for that as well.
The 52 physician oncology group OHC has hired three Proctor and Gamble executives to help them grow and stay independent. The Cincinnati based organization wants to make that city the hub of cancer care for the state and area. They do not want to be hospital based or owned. Top
The LA Times has a story about what they call pill fatigue. They say that Circulation has reported that one in three adults would rather risk a shorter life span than take one pill for hypertension or high cholesterol a day. I call it the Darwin principle.
The WSJ has yet another article about the rising cost of healthcare when hospitals buy physician offices. Let us hope the feds soon pass the law the says the hospitals can not charge as if the office is an outpatient hospital setting. This is one of the few good things in the proposed Obama budget.
Obama bad mouthed Staples for doing what Obamacare as written allowed. They have their employees working 25 hours a week so they do not have to pay for Obamacare, the most expensive medical insurance.
America's most expensive medical insurance is affordable since subsides reduce premiums an average of 72%. The administration released this nugget to attempt to sway the Supreme Court decision due next month. Top
The chair of the board of Halifax Health in Florida has resigned after he tried and failed to get the CEO Jeff Feasel fired. The CEO since 2005 has the hospital on good financial ground but has led it into Medicare fraud issues, the loss of the surgical residency program and the failure to partner with another hospital. The Medicare fraud case cost about $100 million. The hospital is now short on physicians and the medical staff has concerns with the leadership.
Poor Tuomey Healthcare. They fought the feds and lost bit time. Now they are in financial dire straits. They are now looking to find a sucker (hospital system) to partner with. They will most like need to do what they did not want to do, settle the false claims charges.
Baptist Health will soon open a new hospital in Conway, Arkansas, and will partner it with the local physicians. Memo to physicians- watch your back. Baptist is not known for good physician relations.
Kaiser Permanente is on a growth spree. They announced that their profits rose 15% over last year. They also gained over 500,000 in enrollment (5.6). Their capital spending went down 0.5 Billion dollars due to the opening of several hospitals. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.