Commentary news and information

A recent survey of some 2,500 doctors conducted by Dr. Jon Tilburt at the Mayo Clinic and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association was full of good news for those of us who believe that, as physicians, we have a big role to play in controlling healthcare costs. It reveals...
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Unfortunately, some opponents of healthcare reform are behaving outrageously. They are actively trying to make the law fail.
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According to a recent National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, there are about 1 billion patient office visits in the U.S. annually. This is the number of opportunities medical practice executives have to make a difference in a patient's experience and perspective on healthcare delivery.
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Clinical trials are conducted under a growing constellation of state and federal regulations aimed at preventing conflicts of interest in the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and physicians.
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Intermountain Healthcare recently launched the nation's first enterprise system to measure and report cumulative medical radiation exposure of patients. Across our 22 hospitals and 185 clinics, our systems and personnel are now compiling data on the...
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The majority of hospitals in the U.S. are struggling to transition from fee-for-service to capitated reimbursement directly tied to results. The best way to bridge that chasm is to transform the highest profile and most expensive component of most...
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Financial relationships between the healthcare industry and the clinical community are a prevalent aspect of the healthcare landscape. A common financial interaction, for example, is when a physician receives a fee for consulting with a pharmaceutical...
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While nearly 26 million people are affected by diabetes in the U.S., not everyone has access to the care and services that allow for successful disease management.
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Most of the leaders in this nation's dysfunctional system of healthcare now agree that a reliance on in-patient admissions and revenue is a thing of the past.
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For a long time, many of us healthcare professionals have operated largely within our own comfort zones. We do just as we've always done, acting independently of each other, as if in our own private universe. We saw little incentive to change, least of all soon.
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