Philip Glass and Healthcare Reform (Part 1)
Guest Post from Deborah L. Benzil, MD, FACS, FAANS (left) Member, AANS Board of Directors Chair, AANS/CNS Communications and Public Relations Committee MKMG Columbia University Medical Center Mt Kisco, New York and Daniel K. Resnick, MD (right) Past President, Congress of Neurological Surgeons Professor, Vice Chairman and Program Director Department of Neurosurgery University of Wisconsin […]
Welcome to the World of Meaningless Abuse
From time-to-time on Neurosurgery Blog, you will see us cross-posting or linking to pieces from other health blogs when we believe they hit the mark on an issue. Today’s post originally appeared on the KevinMD.com, and it details the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program and how CMS has established a multitude of measures and […]
Participate Today in the SGR Virtual Lobby Day!
Last year, Congress made significant progress toward a permanent repeal of Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment system. Unless Congress acts, physicians face a 21 percent Medicare pay cut on April 1, 2015. The AANS and CNS, together with rest of the medical community, are urging Congress to continue the progress already made toward replacing […]
Put This on the End-of-Year To-Do List
Guest post from Mary R. Grealy President, Healthcare Leadership Council Washington, D.C. There are not high expectations for this lame duck session of Congress. We may see passage of a bill to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline and there will have to be action on a spending bill to keep the government operating as well […]
The Importance of Quality Neurosurgery Data
Guest Post from J. Todd Barnes, MBA, CMPE Administrator Dept.’s of Neurology and Neurosurgery University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Given the quantum changes that are happening to the healthcare system in the United States, there has never been more of a need for quality data in almost every facet of neurological surgery. Public and […]
California’s MICRA is Under Attack
California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, or MICRA, is under attack this fall with a very disingenuous ballot initiative that professes to address issues related to impaired physicians, but is actually an effort to gut the state’s successful medical liability reform law. Proposition 46 would, among other things, increase MICRA’s cap on non-economic damages from […]
Neurosurgery Contributes to Choosing Wisely Campaign
Guest Post by John Ratliff, MD, FAANS, FACS Co-Director, Division of Spine and Peripheral Nerve Surgery Department of Neurosurgery Stanford University Medical Center Stanford, CA The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) have developed set of five targeted, evidence-based recommendations regarding neurosurgical patient care. This effort was completed as […]
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 […]
Consumer Reports for Surgical Care: Buyer Beware!
Guest Post from Deborah L. Benzil, MD, FACS, FAANS Member, AANS Board of Directors Chair, AANS/CNS Communications and Public Relations Committee MKMG Columbia University Medical Center Mt Kisco, New York In 1936, the Consumer Union Reports (now published as Consumer Reports) issued their first ratings on milk, breakfast cereals, soap and stockings. Since then, their […]