Practice Management News

In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft recommendation that encourages clinicians to screen all adults aged 18 to 79 years for HCV infection, including pregnant women. According to the USPSTF, HCV prevalence doubled among women aged 15 to 44 years between 2006 and 2014. Due to the increasing prevalence of the disease in this age group, the task force said clinicians “may want to consider screening pregnant persons aged younger than age 18 years.”

In August, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued a draft recommendation that encourages clinicians to screen all adults aged 18 to 79 years for HCV infection, including pregnant women. According to the USPSTF, HCV prevalence doubled among women aged 15 to 44 years between 2006 and 2014. Due to the increasing prevalence of the disease in this age group, the task force said clinicians “may want to consider screening pregnant persons aged younger than age 18 years.”

From 2013 through 2016, an estimated 2.4 million adults in the United States had a current hepatitis C virus infection. A study published in The American Journal of Public Health reported that the infection rate increased more than twofold between 2004 and 2014 as a result of the opioid epidemic.

From 2013 through 2016, an estimated 2.4 million adults in the United States had a current hepatitis C virus infection. A study published in The American Journal of Public Health reported that the infection rate increased more than twofold between 2004 and 2014 as a result of the opioid epidemic.

Family medicine doctors who practiced in rural areas were less likely to experience burnout than those who practiced in medium-sized and metropolitan areas, according to survey results.

The estimated cost of waste in the United States health care system ranged from $760 billion to $935 billion annually, or about 25% of total health care spending, according to an analysis published in JAMA.

President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that directs HHS to take action to provide more insurance plan options under Medicare Advantage and to remove regulations that are burdensome to health care providers.

The FDA announced that it and the Drug Enforcement Administration sent warning letters to four online networks that operate 10 websites for illegally marketing “unapproved and misbranded” versions of opioid medicines, including tramadol.

Treatment outcomes for chronic hepatitis C virus infection in people who inject drugs, or PWID, and patients on opioid substitution therapy are similar to those in patients without a history of injecting drugs, according to results from a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

CMS administrator Seema Verna, MPH, announced final rules today that will save health care providers approximately $800 million and 4 million burden hours annually.