The inaugural Bundled Payment Bootcamp on June 20 in Nashville, Tennessee, was a timely opportunity for healthcare providers to learn how reimbursement is changing the way they do business. Though the uncertain direction of US healthcare legislation continues to cause consternation, this workshop—which will be presented again in fall 2017—clarifies…

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Medicare is increasing approval of higher-acuity procedures performed in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) setting, creating meaningful opportunities for ASCs. At the same time, however, a number of outpatient procedure codes have been deleted, reduced, or are packaged and considered all-inclusive in a case, without additional payment. “Key changes occurred…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 11 announced a list of 1,003 Class II devices that the Agency says no longer require premarket notification to provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness. The exemptions were made in an effort to decrease regulatory burdens on the medical…

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Editor's Note In the annual Physician Practice Preference & Relocation Survey from The Medicus Firm, nearly 3 in 10 physicians say concerns about appropriate compensation is the primary reason they would consider a career change, the July 5 FierceHealthcare reports. More than 17% of respondents say they will “likely” or…

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Editor's Note Safety-net hospitals treat a disproportionate number of patients with advanced appendicitis and use laparoscopy less often, but their rates of morbidity and costs are similar to other hospitals, this study finds. In this analysis of 349 nonfederally funded hospitals in California performing 274,405 appendectomies, safety-net (compared with non-safety-net)…

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Editor's Note A Market Research Future report predicts the global market for spinal implants will reach $14 billion by 2011 because of an increasing prevalence of spinal injuries and disorders and an aging population, according to the July 5 Becker’s Spine Review. The costliness of spinal implants and unfavorable reimbursement…

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Editor's Note This Australian study finds it is a good economic decision for large healthcare facilities to invest in low-temperature systems for sterilization of steam-sterilizable endoscopes. Increased costs associated with low-temperature systems were outweighed by savings from fewer instrument repairs. Based on their calculations, the researchers estimated a savings of…

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Editor's Note For the third straight year, Boston Children’s Hospital tops the US News & World Report’s Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was second, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center was third. US News bases its honor roll on how hospitals rank in each of 10…

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Editor's Note The global ambulatory services market was valued at $2.3 trillion in 2016 and is forecast to grow to $3.7 trillion by 2024, according to a new study by Ameri Research. In 2016, primary care offices accounted for the majority of market share at more than 48% because they…

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Keeping a close eye on implants that are opened and not used is one way OR leaders can track practices that add significantly to costs. But what about blood products? Blood taken to the OR and not used also can be costly. Although an individual unit of blood doesn't compare…

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