Ga. Docs Collaborate on EHRs
Georgia physicians are collaborating with the state's Department of Community Health on adoption of Medicare electronic health records, the department said. The department intends to apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to participate in an EHR demonstration project, and department officials said they met with Georgia physicians in March to develop the program. Over a 5-year period, the demonstration project will provide financial incentives to small- and medium-size physician groups using certified EHRs to meet certain clinical measures. Bonuses will be provided each year, based on a physician group's score on a standardized survey that assesses the specific EHR functions a group employs to support the delivery of care.
Consumer-Directed Enrollment Low
More employers are offering consumer-directed health plans in efforts to shift greater responsibility to workers for health care costs, lifestyle choices, and treatment decisions, according to a new survey on the plans. However, enrollment still constitutes only a small percentage of those enrolled in all employer-sponsored health plans, because large employers have not yet structured their premium contributions to favor the consumer-directed options, said the survey from the Center for Studying Health System Change. While survey respondents were optimistic that consumer-directed health plans would become more prominent in health benefit offerings, the report said plans and employers seeking to foster greater enrollment may need to make health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements more appealing to enrollees.
MA, Part D Changes Announced
The out-of-pocket threshold for a beneficiary enrolled in a standard Medicare Part D drug plan will rise from $4,050 to $4,350 next year, while the initial deductible rises from $275 to $295, CMS announced. The out-of-pocket threshold is the point at which the Part D “doughnut hole” is satisfied and Medicare begins paying for most drug expenses, minus 5% copayments. At the same time, health insurers running Medicare Advantage plans will see average increases of about 3.6% in capitation rates in 2009, CMS said. This increase in capitation rates is slightly lower than the estimated 3.7% Medicare growth trend for 2009, CMS said. In addition, CMS said it will audit records from a sample of Medicare Advantage plans in an effort to determine if the plans are reporting diagnosis code information correctly. Diagnosis code information is used in setting capitation and payment rates for the plans.
Side Effects Underreported
One in six Americans who have taken a prescription drug experienced a side effect serious enough to send them to the doctor or hospital, but only 35% of consumers said they know they can report these side effects to the FDA, according to a Consumer Reports poll. Additionally, 81% of respondents said they had seen or heard an ad for prescription drugs within the last 30 days, almost all on television. Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of the magazine, gave the FDA a petition signed by nearly 56,000 consumers asking that a toll-free number and Web site be included in all television drug ads so people can easily report their serious side effects. “What better way for the FDA to let consumers know how to report serious problems with their medications than putting a toll-free number and Web site in all those drug ads we're bombarded by each day?” asked Liz Foley, campaign coordinator with Consumers Union, in a statement.
AAMC Adopts Medical Home
The Association of American Medical Colleges has adopted a formal position stating that every person should have access to a medical home. “We believe the medical home model holds great promise for improving Americans' health by ensuring that they have an ongoing relationship with a trusted medical professional,” said Dr. Darrell Kirch, AAMD president and CEO, in a statement. The AAMC position also said that further research and evaluation of the medical home model is needed and more evidence must be gathered on how the model is best implemented. In addition, payment for the model should “appropriately recognize and reward providers for prevention, care delivery, and coordination,” and “health care providers should be trained to understand and implement the medical home model within a team environment,” the AAMC said.
Gaps in Child Well-Being
Where a child is born and raised in the United States can make a huge difference to his or her chances of health and survival to adulthood, according to a report by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Every Child Matters Education Fund. Those born in the lowest-ranked states are twice as likely to die in their first year of life as are those born in the highest-ranked states, three times more likely to die between the ages of 1 and 14 years, and five times more likely to have mothers who received late or no prenatal care. They also are three times more likely to live in poverty and five times more likely to be uninsured, the report said. “It should no longer be politically acceptable to permit—or simply ignore—the vast differences in life chances that exist for children today,” said report author Michael Petit. The bottom 10 states included Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Nevada, South Dakota, and Arizona. Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire were the top five states.