MASSDEVICE ON CALL — President Barack Obama’s deficit reduction plan, announced last night in a Rose Garden speech, includes $320 billion slashed from Medicare and Medicaid and increased costs for beneficiaries.
"We will reform Medicare and Medicaid, but we will not abandon the fundamental commitment that this country has kept for generations," Obama said.
Specifically, the president’s plan cuts $248 billion from Medicare and another $72 billion from Medicaid in efforts to cut $3 trillion in spending, Bloomberg reported.
More than three-quarters of Americans are worried about security of digital medial records
About 80 percent of Americans, as well as 81 percent of Britons and 83 percent of Australians, reported uneasiness with the security of online medical records in a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, EMR Daily News reported.
Several big health systems refuse to participate in Pres. Barack Obama’s accountable care organization program
The Mayo Clinic, Geisinger Health System, Intermountain Healthcare and Cleveland Clinic declined to participate in the "Pioneer" accountable care organization program touted as a key part of President Barack Obama’s federal health care reform package, MedCity News reported.
Patients complain that docs fail to disclose risks in more than 70 percent of informed consent lawsuits
In more than 70 percent of legal disputes concerning informed consent, patients complained that doctors and surgeons didn’t properly disclose risks of complications associated with a procedure, according to a press release.
Feds move to give patients direct access to their lab results
A rule proposed by the Dept. of Health & Human services argues that patients should have direct access to their own lab results and health data, the Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog reported.
