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Hospital shifting away from billing for individual services

Bundled payments may be the "wave of the future," the Wall Street Journal suggests. Meanwhile, health care providers are working to get patients more involved in decisions about their care.

9 Jun 2014

HHS identifies overpayments to Medicare advantage plans but doesn't recover funds

Medicare auditors found the government overpaid the plans hundreds of millions of dollars but in 2013 opted to scrap such reviews, the Center for Public Integrity writes. Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare looks at Medicare's difficult job in dealing with safety failures.

9 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 9, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about efforts on the state level and within the health care system to address health care costs and advance other system reforms.

9 Jun 2014

UAB ophthalmologists offer tips to prevent firework related injuries

Fourth of July 2013: Family members were shooting fireworks in the backyard of Dianne Peterson's home in Vincent, Alabama, as she walked out of the house.

9 Jun 2014

State highlights: Rural telemedicine; two Iowa planned parenthoods closed

A selection of health policy stories from South Dakota, Washington state, Iowa, Arizona and Georgia. Fifty years in farming had given Tom Soukup a few brushes with his own mortality, but after a cow pinned him against a wall, death felt closer than ever.

9 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: Tea party missing the lesson; health care not an ordinary market; Va.'s Medicaid battle

But the Tea Party does have something to show for its five years of annoyance: Ted Cruz, senator from Texas. Cruz is probably best known for reading "Green Eggs and Ham" on the floor of the Senate during a 21-hour talkathon designed to ensure his place as the most hated man in that august chamber.

9 Jun 2014

Scientists develop new molecule for monitoring drug concentration

Monitoring the drug concentration in patients is critical for effective treatment, especially in cases of cancer, heart disease, epilepsy and immunosuppression after organ transplants.

9 Jun 2014

Studies show relation between spice and different types of psychosis

Professors of Medicine Degree at the CEU Cardenal Herrera University and the Provincial Hospital of Castellón, in collaboration with doctors of the Addictive Behaviors Unit of Valencia, have described the first case of catatonic psychosis caused by a synthetic derivate of Cannabis: the spice.

6 Jun 2014

Studies confirm importance of men seeing physician on regular basis

For many men being a father is about staying strong as they protect and care for their family. Some men see going to the doctor as a weakness or nuisance, but protecting your health is one of the best things a father can do for his family.

6 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 6, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Senate confirmation of Sylvia Mathews Burwell to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

6 Jun 2014

State highlights: NYC soda fight back in court; doc training slots in N.Y.; Texas inmate dialysis costs

New York City's battle over sugary drinks is entering its endgame. But much more than soda is at stake. A plan to limit the sale of large, high-calorie beverages, championed by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as a novel way to fight obesity, went before the State Court of Appeals here on Wednesday, the city's final recourse after a lower court judge struck down the proposal last year (Grynbaum, 6/4).

6 Jun 2014

Longer looks: When an ER doctor becomes an ER patient; visualizing end-of-life treatments; Google Glass inside operating rooms

If you are shot or stabbed in or around Oakland, you are likely to be sent [to Highland Hospital). Oakland has the highest violent crime rate in the nation, so I have indeed seen my fair share of victims over my long career here.

6 Jun 2014

Feds propose easing privacy restrictions on patients' drug treatment information

Federal officials are proposing to ease 40-year-old restrictions on the release of information about patients' drug- and alcohol-abuse treatment, so their electronic medical records can be more easily used and shared.

6 Jun 2014

New report focuses attention on wait times at El Paso VA facility

The document, which was commissioned by Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, found wait times as long as 71 days for veterans who sought mental health treatment at the facility. This finding was very different from official statistics.

6 Jun 2014

House GOP leaders press White House on veterans' health care scandal

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is pushing President Barack Obama to do more while some senators are attempting to develop a bipartisan bill that would address delays in the delivery of health care for military veterans.

6 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: The case for doctors making house calls; the measles threat; the VA's value

At a time when burdensome restrictions enacted in Republican-led states are threatening women's access to abortion care, it is all the more vital that courts scrutinize phony claims that new laws actually protect women's health and safety (Dorothy J. Samuels, 6/4).

6 Jun 2014

Medicaid rolls grow by 6 million since health law rollout

The total, which includes 1.1 million people who signed up in April alone, does not indicate how many people gained coverage through the law's expansion of Medicaid, a program pursued by 26 states. That's because individuals who were eligible for Medicaid before the law's passage, but not enrolled, also signed up.

6 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 5, 2014

Today's headlines include the latest developments regarding congressional action on the veterans' health care scandal as well as reports about the latest Medicaid enrollment figures in the context of the health law.

5 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: VA's lessons for private health care; court should protect abortion clinic buffers

This is the full quote from ... former neurosurgeon Ben Carson: "What's happening with the veterans is a gift from God to show us what happens when you take layers and layers of bureaucracy and place them between the patients and the healthcare provider."

5 Jun 2014

Congress wrestles with best way to solve VA problems

Lawmakers ponder whether to expand the system or just give veterans more opportunities to opt into private health care at federal expense. Some analysts say, though, that any fixes could be held up in the Senate by election year bickering.

5 Jun 2014