Practice Management News

The AMA and HHS have recently released opposing statements about the Congressional Budget Office’s report on President Donald J. Trump’s replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act, known as the American Health Care Act, disagreeing on its accuracy and its assessment of the potential impact of the new health care bill.

Advancements in digital technology developing concurrently with the advent of the direct-acting antiviral era has created an optimal set of conditions for telemedicine programs in HCV to flourish. Video communication is becoming more freely available worldwide. Current HCV drugs are relatively easy to use. HCV experts are no longer needed to administer year-long interferon-based regimens or manage adverse events. In all likelihood, an increasing number of patients — mainly those in remote or rural areas, but also, possibly, those closer to major academic centers — will be seen by video conferencing. Whether this will translate to dramatically improved outcomes or significant cost and resource savings, however, remains to be seen.

In her editorial, Nancy S. Reau, MD, FAASLD, AGAF, provides an impassioned plea for us to engage in activities that re-establish control of our profession and our practices. Her instructions are simple: Become informed; become involved. Most of us struggle daily with finding time to balance the flood of demands on our time at work and at home. Adding yet another set of activities to the mix likely feels overwhelming.

While there was a larger variation in health care expenditures among individual physicians than hospitals, higher physician spending was not associated with better outcomes of hospitalized patients, according to findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers suggest that a reduction in wasteful spending may be more achievable with policies focusing on both physicians and hospitals rather than hospitals alone.

A recent interview with a Gilead Sciences executive pointing fingers for drug costs at pharmacy benefit managers spurred a formal letter from Express Scripts requesting a lower price for the company’s popular hepatitis C medications.

By Theresa Toigo, MBA, RPh, and Cynthia LaCivita, PharmD

Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act led to increased access to care and insurance coverage, but was also associated with longer wait times for appointments, according to study results recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine found that many patient-advocacy organizations do not adequately disclose funding or other connections with drug of medical device makers, according to recent findings.

In the midst of the House Republicans recent announcement of their proposed ACA replacement plan, known as the American Health Care Act, the ACP and AMA, among many other health care organizations, have released statements in opposition of the plan, noting that it will negatively impact access, quality and cost of care for patients.

President Donald J. Trump’s revised executive order on immigration will allow existing visa holders from six designated, majority-Muslim countries to enter and reenter the United States; however, the new order still encourages discrimination against Muslims, hinders travel by physicians and others and exacerbates a public health crisis for refugees, according to a press release by the ACP.