House approves one-month physician payment fix and EDs see increase in CT exams

CAL/AAEM News Service calaaem.news.service1 at gmail.com
Sat Dec 4 18:12:17 PST 2010


November 29, 2010
House approves one-month physician payment fix

AHA News Now
The House today approved by voice vote legislation that extends  
through the end of the year current Medicare payment rates for  
physicians. The legislation, which cleared the Senate on Nov. 18, was  
sent to the president to sign into law. The administration has said  
that the president would sign the bill before a scheduled 23% cut in  
physician payments takes effect on Wednesday. The cost of retaining  
physician's 2.2% update in Medicare payments would be paid for using  
savings from a new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services policy  
that reduces Medicare payments for multiple therapy services provided  
to patients. The Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act would revise  
the policy by imposing a 20% payment cut for these therapy services,  
rather than the 25% reduction included in the recent 2011 physician  
fee schedule final rule. While CMS would redistribute the savings to  
increase payments for other physician services, the legislation would  
use the estimated $1 billion in savings exclusively for the one-month  
physician payment fix. "We support the passage of a 30 day extension  
of the 'doc fix' by Congress," AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock  
said today. "… We will continue to work with Congress and physicians  
to find a longer-term solution, while remaining vigilant against cuts  
that could be harmful to other parts of the health care system."



November 29, 2010

Emergency departments see significant increase in CT exams

AHA News Now


The use of CT scans as a diagnostic tool increased by 500% in hospital  
emergency departments from 1995 to 2007, according to a study released  
today in the journal Radiology. CT scan use increased from 2.7 million  
to 16.2 million during that 13-year period. For much of that time,  
headache was the complaint most commonly associated with a CT exam in  
the ED. But by 2007, headache was surpassed by abdominal pain as the  
complaint most often associated with CT imaging. "Recent developments,  
such as increased awareness of cost, radiation concerns, national  
health care reform legislation and the economic recession, are likely  
to inhibit further growth," said lead researcher David Larson, M.D.,  
quality improvement director for the Cincinnati Children's Hospital  
Medical Center's radiology department. Researchers examined data from  
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Hospital  
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Larson said CTs have proven to be a  
"great tool" to look for kidney stones, appendicitis and coronary  
artery disease, but "our emphasis now should be on carefully  
evaluating the use of CT in specific situations and making sure it is  
used appropriately."



Anna Parks &
Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service
University of California, Irvine


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