MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Medical students and internists mobbed Capitol Hill last week to ask Congress to establish a more permanent fix to a long-running Medicare payment issue.
Every year Congress has scrambled to come up with a band-aid measure to prevent deep Medicare cuts, a measure colloquially called the "doc fix."
Each “doc fix” has delayed the cuts for another year without making changes to the underlying law.
"We’re certainly hearing it’s likely the can will be kicked ahead one year forward," former American College of Physicians president Dr. Fred Ralston told MedPageToday. "We’re disappointed in this and we’ve been hearing this every year for more years than I can count."
Call for women in device trials
A lack of sufficient testing in women leaves uncertainty about the effectiveness of medical technology in a substantial portion of the heart disease population.
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HHS falls behind on healthcare reforms
The Dept. of Health & Human Services has missed almost half of its healthcare reform deadlines.
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Seniors’ lobby fights for Medicare
AARP launched an ad campaign aimed at keeping Medicare intact well into the future.
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New York launches state-wide digital health record system
The New York eHealth Collaborative launched a state-wide electronic medical record system that will initially include 3 regional health information organizations and 3 health information exchange vendors acting as a sort of public utility.
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