Pediatric Neurosurgery and “Growing-Up” in America
Guest post from Catherine A. Mazzola, MD Director of the Craniofacial Center at Atlantic Health Systems-Goryeb Children’s Hospital NJ Pediatric Neuroscience Institute Morristown, NJ As a parent and as a pediatric neurosurgeon I REALLY care about kids. During the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Pediatric Neurosurgery meeting in Amelia Island, FL, guest speaker David L. Wood, […]
5 Things Neurosurgeons Need to Know about the Sunshine Act
Despite the problems associated with the Physician Sunshine Open Payments system, including inaccurate data and computer system problems, on Sept. 30, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released physician-industry data on the Open Payments public website. Now that the Open Payments data is publicly available, here are 5 things neurosurgeons need to […]
Neurosurgery Meets with Congress during Alliance of Specialty Medicine’s Legislative Conference
Guest Post from Alliance of Specialty Medicine spokesperson, Alex B. Valadka, MD Chief Executive Officer, Seton Brain and Spine Institute Austin, Texas Dr. Valadka (left) visiting Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas). This week, I attended the Alliance of Specialty Medicine’s annual Capitol Hill Advocacy Conference. More than 100 participants from 13 medical societies – including the […]
Double D.O.A.: The Obama and Ryan Budget Proposals
In March, President Obama released the Administration’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) portion allocated $1 trillion in outlays and proposed $77.1 billion in discretionary budget authority, $0.8 billion less than the 2014 enacted level and $3 billion less than last year’s request. Of significance to many […]
House Passes Bill to Repeal the SGR; Attention Now Turns to the Senate
On March 14, 2014, by a vote of 238 to 181, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to repeal Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment system. The “SGR Repeal and Medicare Payment Modernization Act” (H.R. 4015), establishes a new streamlined value-based incentive payment system called the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, or MIPS. The […]
Cross Post: The Future of Medical Specialists under the Affordable Care Act
From time to time on Neurosurgery Blog you will see us cross-posting pieces from other health blogs when we believe they really hit the mark on an issue. Today’s post originally appeared on the American Thinker blog. The post addresses the all-important topic of the future of medical specialists under the Affordable Care Act that is right […]
New AAMC Motion Graphic Highlights Physician Shortage Issue
It is well established that the country faces a severe physician manpower shortage, which will only worsen as health insurance coverage is expanded under the Affordable Care Act and the baby boomers continue to reach retirement age. Overall, the shortage will approximate 130,600 physicians by the year 2025 — 64,800 specialty physicians and 65,800 primary […]
Implementation of Physician Payments Sunshine Act Begins
Starting on Aug. 1, 2013, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which was part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will require manufacturers of drugs, medical devices and biologics to report certain payments and items of value given to physicians and teaching hospitals. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also will make […]
Obamacare is Raising the Cost of Healthcare
Seeing that it’s Music Monday we wanted to show you a video released by the U.S. House GOP Doctors Caucus which features Rep. Phil Gingrey, M.D. (GA-11); Rep. Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-1); and Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (TN-1). This video is well worth watching as it discusses the failure (at least according to the Doc […]
AANS Joins ‘Partners for Healthy Dialogues’ Campaign
When it comes to our health, appropriate collaboration between physicians and biopharmaceutical and medical device professionals is essential to improving the care that patients receive. It is for this very reason that the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) has joined the ‘Partners for Healthy Dialogues’ campaign because we believe there is great value when […]