Primary care is facing "a confluence of factors that could spell disaster," including inadequate reimbursement, uneven quality of care, and a drop-off in the number of generalists graduating from U.S. medical schools, according to an editorial published in the August 31 issue of the New England...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 35
There are large differences in the number and distribution of physicians identified as pediatric cardiologists in the datasets of the AMA Masterfile and the roster of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), according to a study published in the September issue of Academic Medicine. Use of such...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 35
Arguably, culture drives behavior and behavior drives results. Therefore, to achieve a truly effective medical staff, physician leaders must proactively mold and lead the medical staff culture so that it simultaneously drives the desired results of physician success and hospital success.
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 34
Assuming a leadership position has its burdens, as anyone involved heavily in medical staff affairs will readily attest. It is important to be frank and open with physician recruits about the challenges and risks inherent in leadership roles. Clearly articulating these concerns helps new and...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 34
Pediatric physicians at a children's hospital in Denver lack knowledge of basic requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals participating in Medicare to treat emergency department patients regardless of their ability to pay, according...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 33
What is important to understand about Stark is that it does not eliminate opportunities for appropriate physician-hospital collaboration, it simply requires that such collaboration be accomplished through carefully structured and documented arrangements that are "arms length," transparent, and...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 33
Few empirical studies of explicit financial incentives for quality exist, and more research is required to determine the effects of pay-for-performance programs on the quality of healthcare, according to a systematic review of the medical literature published in the August 15 edition of the...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 32
The Stark Amendments were created to prevent physicians from referring federally funded patients to a laboratory (Stark I) or more generally to a designated health service (Stark II) in which physicians or their immediate families have a financial interest. These amendments, in conjunction with...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 32
Hospitals and physician practices are increasingly hiring mystery shopping firms to check on their quality of patient care with anonymous patient surveyors who report their findings and experiences. Although healthcare mystery shopping made up only 2% of the $600 million in revenue for the...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 31
With the evolving roles of many of the allied health disciplines, more allied health practitioners (AHP) are being licensed as indepedent practitioners by the state. As a licensed independent practitioner (LIP), the AHP generally functions as a primary-care practitioner and by state authority...
