Author: Dr. Clemens

Uncategorized Published - 2 September, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
40 statistics on physician compensation

I thought this was interesting so I wanted to share it with our readers so they can see what our colleagues make from their practices. Here are 40 statistics on primary care and specialty care physician compensation gathered from 2014 data and reports. Trends by geography, demographics 1. According to Medical Group Management Association’s Physician […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 September, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Gains from pay-for-performance don’t last

Pay-for-performance programs, despite initial improvements, may not improve patient mortality rates in the long term, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers, led by Søren Rud Kristensen, Ph.D., of the Institute of Population Health at the Manchester Centre for Health Economics in England, analyzed 30-day in-hospital mortality rates […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 September, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
How CMS’ 2015 Payment Proposals Will Affect Hospitals, Physicians: 5 Things to Know From Moody’s

CMS recently released proposed Medicare reimbursement rates for 2015 will likely have a largely positive impact on healthcare providers, according to a report from Moody’s Investors Service. Most providers will see a “relatively modest” increase in Medicare payments in calendar year 2015 under the proposed rules, according to Moody’s. Here are five things to know […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 September, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
PPACA’s Effect on the Uninsured Rate: 5 Things to Know

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has made a direct impact on the percentage of people without health insurance in America, with the uninsured rate falling by 5 percent since the PPACA’s rollout. Here are five things to know about the PPACA and its effect on the uninsured rate. 1. A Commonwealth Fund survey […]

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Uncategorized Published - 29 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Guidebook offers action plan to address alarm fatigue

The ECRI has issued a guidebook to help hospitals address what the institute has deemed a top health technology hazard, alarm fatigue. “The Alarm Safety Handbook: Strategies, Tools, and Guidance”–available in print and in electronic formats–is designed to help hospitals identify ways to minimize alarm fatigue, develop an action plan and put that plan into […]

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Uncategorized Published - 29 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
VTE rates don’t reflect care quality

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has long used venous thromboembolism (VTE) rates to determine hospital care quality, but a report finds this measure may not indicate care quality, according to Anesthesiology News. Rather than reflecting quality, a provider’s VTE rates indicate the frequency with which it conducts imaging tests–in short, hospitals that look […]

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Uncategorized Published - 29 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Is ‘Kaiser-fication’ of healthcare system a good thing?

Some experts think the “Kaiser-fication” of healthcare in the wake of the Affordable Care Act(ACA) may be good for the industry. Other hospitals could mimic Kaiser Permanente’s focus on affordability, technology,  electronic health records and healing to meet ACA guidelines, CEO Bernard Tyson said. Reducing lengths of stay saves the organization money, whereas some traditional […]

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Uncategorized Published - 29 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Healthcare M&A Spending Skyrockets 152% in Q2

I wanted our readers to be aware of this since many of our reader’s hospitals may be acquired in the near future. Healthcare merger and acquisition spending jumped to $135.2 billion during the second quarter of this year, a 152 percent increase from $53.6 billion during the second quarter of 2013, according to an Irving […]

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Uncategorized Published - 29 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
Best practices don’t matter. Here’s what does.

High-reliability organizations don’t implement best practices. They continually make new best practices. Healthcare is an industry obsessed with best practices. And for good reason. Our costs our growing almost uncontrollably, and quality is highly variable from hospital to hospital, department to department and physician to physician. It makes sense, then, that organizations seeking to improve […]

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Uncategorized Published - 28 August, 2014    By - Dr. Clemens
10 states with sharpest drop in uninsured rate in 2014

A new Gallup poll has revealed the 10 states with the largest declines in uninsured rates since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act took effect at the beginning of the year all expanded Medicaid. To calculate the change in the uninsured rate in each state, Gallup compared the states’ uninsured rates in 2013 to […]

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