Crafting a Model
UMMC and Jackson Medical Mall Collaborate on Landmark Program to Benefit Underserved Mississippians
A landmark event involving an academic medical center's educational and training efforts at a federally qualified health center (FQHC) occurred quietly last month in Central Mississippi, marking one of few collaborations of its kind nationwide and possibly creating a model for other states.
LYNNE JETER |
Health Insurers Tackle Deluge of Changes
Reform Regulations Are Kicking In Already
Healthcare reform requires changes of all stakeholders, but probably none more so than third-party payers, usually portrayed as wearing the black hat in this ongoing drama. In fact, President Obama hasn’t hesitated to cast insurers in the role of characters more worried about money than patient care.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
An Innovative Approach
NewSouth NeuroSpine a Combination of Five Groups with Focused Plan
FLOWOOD—Several years ago, leaders of three spine surgery groups, a physical medicine and a pain management group in Central Mississippi began discussing ways to establish a more effective and efficient practice for their patients.
LYNNE JETER |
MEDICAL ENTREPRENEURS: How to Leverage Social Media
Legend has it that a Western Union Company executive in an internal memo in 1876 concluded that "the telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Similarly, if you would have polled business owners or healthcare professionals in the mid-1990s on the value of having a website for their business, most would probably have said "why would I want that?"
MARTIN WILLOUGHBY |
Reflex Testing: Compliance, Billing and Coding
A "reflex" test is a procedure routinely added-on to a patient
order when the initial test results are at a level that meets the clinician’s
threshold to automatically add specific tests. In a nutshell, they are
protocols that specify if this then that. While this makes a great deal of
common sense, care to dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s is the mainstay of
billing and coding compliance. The documentation for dotting and crossing I’s
and T’s is the heart of the compliance step.
BETTY HATTEN |
Healthcare Reform: A Look at Employer-Based Wellness Programs
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), otherwise recognized as the healthcare reform law and subsequently amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. A reflection of President Obama's belief that preventive medicine is "one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control," wellness program initiatives can be found throughout PPACA with some of these initiatives taking effect as early as next year.
CHERI GREEN and LANE STAINES |
HEALTHCARE LEADER: Staying Focused on the Bigger Picture
MSMA President Emphasizes State’s Health Status
The ongoing issue of reimbursement rates is no small matter — but it shouldn’t distract Mississippi physicians from focusing on the great health challenges of their home state.
LUCY SCHULTZE |
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