The Dallas County Medical Society and Texas Medical Association have formed a physician services organization.
Healthcare costs for the typical American family of four now exceeds the cost of groceries.
More than 1 out of 4 Texans eligible for the subsidies on the health insurance exchanges do not have a bank account. Full Story
Dallas County Medical Society (DCMS) is forming a physician services organization with the Texas Medical Association (TMA) and the Harris County Medical Society to assist physicians in navigating changes in the practice landscape. “I am confident the Physician Services Organization for Patient Care will save local practices,” said TMA President Stephen L. Brotherton, MD, of Fort Worth. “Texas doctors are determined to make health care better and more affordable for Texans. To do that, we need to shift the balance of power away from the government and the large hospital systems, and back to the patients and their physicians.” The… Full Story
The Texas Medical Association has elected a Fort Worth physician as its president and a Frisco psychiatrist as its speaker.
The Obama administration has announced a $1 billion initiative to fund health innovations.
About 3 out of 4 physicians say health information technology will improve healthcare quality.
A recent proposal from the CMS would allow patients with hospital stays longer than two midnights to qualify for coverage under Medicare Part A. Full Story
About 3 out of 4 physicians say health information technology will improve healthcare quality, according to a Deloitte report. However, about the same number believe implementation is costly and return on investment is inflated. More than 8 out of 10 practices 82% with 10 or more physicians have an electronic health records (EHR) that meets meaningful use (MU) Stage 1 requirements, compared with about 3 out of 10 solo practitioners. Nearly half of solo practitioners do not have plans to adopt an EHR that meets MU. The demands of health insurance plans, consumers and payers are driving health IT in… Full Story
More than 1 out of 3 healthcare consumers say keeping down insurance costs is more important than keeping their physician.
Accountable care organizations are expected to be the most pervasive value-based model forhealth plans.
Healthcare jobs rank among the best professions in the nation, according to a recent CareerCast report. CareerCast studied U.S. professions and ranked them based on five criteria: work environment, stress level, physical demands, median salary, and projected job outlook. Of the top 10 “Best Jobs of 2013” named by CareerCast, five were healthcare careers. Dental hygienists have the No. 1 healthcare job, according to CareerCast, partly because talented hygienists have higher-paying jobs and flexible schedules with relatively low stress. Other healthcare jobs were cited for their high pay and their anticipated market growth. Audiologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and optometrists… Full Story
More than 1 out of 3 healthcare consumers say keeping down insurance costs is more important than keeping their physician, according to a HealthPocket survey. The website, which ranks and compares health plans, asked how much money patients would need to save annually to change physicians. More than half said they would be willing to do so for a savings of $500-$1000 a year. By comparison, less than 1 out of 11 said they were change physicians only if they saved more than $3,000 a year. Narrower provider networks allow health plans to offer lower rates to a more select… Full Story
UT Southwestern study looks to identify which bladder cancer patients need follow-up chemotherapy.
Errors in diagnosis are the leading cause of death and medical liability payments than any other medical error.
Primary-care physicians brought in more money, on average, than specialty doctors. Full Story
Primary-care physicians made more, on average, than specialty doctors, according to a study conducted by Irving-based Merritt Hawkins. Family physicians generated almost $2.07 million for their affiliated hospitals, in contrast to the average 1.45 million brought in by specialty doctors. This represents an increase of more than 24.3 percent for family doctors since the 2010 survey total of $1.66 million. Modern Physician noted the discrepancy might be due to the fact that specialty physicians require higher salaries and equipment or that primary-care physicians can be economical by using a low-cost prescription to avoid a later, costlier illness.
Healthcare needs more “disruptive innovation” like TurboTax. Jason Hwang, co-author of The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care and co-founder of the Innosight Institute, used the analogy during a pre-conference keynote speech last week at the sixth annual Southwest Healthcare Transaction Conference, held at the Omni Dallas Hotel. Hwang noted that the growing use of TurboTax eats away at the percentage of people who hire an accountant to complete their taxes each year. This “disruption” targets consumers with simple finances that could be easily handled by TurboTax, as well as non-consumers who could not afford accountants. Similar innovation… Full Story
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