MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Medicare-covered elective surgery is all over the map, says study. For Medicare patients with conditions that can be treated with elective surgery, whether they undergo the procedure depends largely on where they live and the clinicians they see, according to a new report from the Dartmouth Atlas Project (PDF) and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making. Researchers found remarkably wide regional variations in optional surgery for Medicare patients even though they had similar ailments, according to the organiztions.
Poll: Almost half of Americans think the healthcare reform law was repealed. It’s not enough for Republicans to claim victory, but a Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking poll found that about 48 percent of Americans think that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is no longer law. The Wall Street Journaltries to explain why.
Study: More germs mean lower chance of asthma. Kids who lived on farms had lower prevalences of asthma and atopy and were exposed to a greater variety of environmental microorganisms than other children, according to two studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
New medical coding system poses Y2K-like problem for healthcare. The healthcare industry may be grappling with its own version of "Y2K" between now and October 1, 2013. By that date, as required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare providers must be using the latest ICD-10, the book of codes used for diagnosing illnesses and conditions and for billing patients and insurers, The Wall Street Journal writes.
"RomneyCare" may be Mitt’s misery. As architect of a Massachusetts law that requires all state residents to have healthcare, Mitt Romney’s chances for the Republican party presidential nomination in 2012 seem slim, writes Politico.
