Congress Makes Significant Progress on Physician Payment Reform
On Feb. 6, 2014, the Senate Finance, House Energy and Commerce and House Ways and Means Committees released bipartisan legislation to repeal Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) physician payment system. The “SGR Repeal and Medicare Payment Modernization Act ” (S. 2000/H.R. 4015), establishes a new streamlined value-based incentive payment system called the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, or […]
AANS Spotlight: Neurosurgeons and the Media
The AANS Neurosurgeon is official socioeconomic publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) which features information and analysis for contemporary neurosurgical practice. It focuses on issues related to legislation, workforce and practice management as they affect the specialty of neurosurgery. For today’s post we wanted to bring your attention to the newly released […]
Cross Post: How Medical Professionals Are Using Social Media (Infographic)
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 Health Care Social Media Monitor blog on July 1, 2013. The post addresses how medical professionals are using social media and […]
Ms. Sanger-Katz: Come Spend a Week in My Scrubs
As one neurosurgeon put it, “After finishing my last day of seven, 24-hour days, on-call, removing a brain tumor, stabilizing a fractured spine, and finally spending hours with a grieving family to help them grapple with the difficult decisions surrounding a locked-in syndrome for a brain stem hemorrhage, I arrived home to read a National […]
Efforts to Fix the SGR Continue
Year after year, because of Medicare’s flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, physicians face significant cuts in Medicare reimbursement. And time and time again, Congress intervenes with a short term “fix” to prevent these steep cuts. With luck (and a favorable cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office), perhaps the time has finally come — […]
AANS and CNS Unveil 2013 Legislative Agenda
Today, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) released its 2013 legislative agenda, which includes action items such as abolishing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), alleviating the medical liability crisis, expanding support of quality resident training and education, and championing an improved Medicare reimbursement system. A few […]
The Primary Care Shibboleth: Debunking the Myth
Guest Post From Robert E. Harbaugh, MD, FAANS, FACS, FAHA Director, Institute of the Neurosciences Distinguished Professor & Chair, Department of Neurosurgery Professor, Department of Engineering Science & Mechanics The Pennsylvania State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center At a recent Kaiser Family Foundation healthcare conference, Sustaining Medicare for the Future: What’s Next In the […]
PQRS Penalties: You Must Report in 2013 to Avoid a 1.5 Percent Cut in 2015
According to a new study by The Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, “more than 80 percent of Medicare providers will face penalties for failing to meet quality thresholds if current performance trends continue.” As this statistic suggests, the authors of the study say it “spells trouble for providers as the bonus program is converted to […]
Going Over the Fiscal Cliff will Hurt Patients
Today, Roll Call Newspaper (Capitol Hill’s paper of record) published a Guest Opinion piece featuring the Alliance of Specialty Medicine and our own Alex Valadka, the Alliance’s spokesperson and chair of the AANS/CNS Washington Committee. The article, “Doctors: We Gave at the Office, and Then Some” addresses the idea that preventing the pending SGR cuts […]