Medical Homes, ACOs and Population Management, July 2012, Arkansas Medical Society
Writer Casey L. Penn reports on the presentation of NCMS member Steve Wegner, MD, JD, at the Arkansas Medical Society Annual Meeting. Dr. Wegner explained North Carolina’s “Toward Accountable Care” initiative.
AAFP Delegation Goes to Bat for USPSTF in the House of Medicine, 6-26-12, AAFP News Now
Writer Cindy Borgmeyer reports that delegates from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), including NCMS Member Timothy Beittel, MD, discussed the US Preventive Services Task Force at the AMA Annual Meeting. Other NCMS AMA delegates were also in attendance at the meeting.
Mooneyham: Blue Cross dominance bad, 6-22-12, The Daily Reflector
Write Scott Mooneyham reports that a study conducted by the AMA ranked North Carolina as one of the 10 least competitive health insurance markets in the country.
Some doctors say annual physicals aren’t necessary, 6-21-12, WRAL
NCMS member Allen Mask, MD, reports that the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and Consumer Reports recently created a list of basic tests and procedures they claim have no value.
Physicians at 2,600 hospitals linked in new health care database, 6-25-12, Amednews
Writer Pamela Lewis Dolan reports that PremierConnect, a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,600 hospitals, will give physicians and health care systems easy access to a wide variety of data.
WakeMed to Bolster Communications for 1,000 Physicians With Amcom Software’s Smartphone Communications Solution, 6-28-12, Business Wire
Amcom Software, Inc., releases a statement announcing that WakeMed Health and Hospitals will begin using Amcom Mobile Connect(R) encrypted smartphone communications for 1,000 users, which expands the hospital’s ability to conduct highly secure mobile messaging for busy health care professionals who need immediate contact regardless of their location.
Out-of-network health care costs often catch patients by surprise, 6-27-12, WRAL
Reporter Monica Laliberte writes that Consumer Reports found dozens of examples of patients hit with astronomical bills after going outside their network.
HIV/AIDS remains a crisis in Asheville area, 6-23-12, The Citizen-Times
Reporter Casey Blake writes that North Carolina is one of about 10 Southern states experiencing a crisis that earned the Southeast a reputation as “ground zero” for HIV/AIDS rates in the United States.
CA doctor ordered to trial in 3 drug deaths, 6-26-12, The Charlotte Observer
Reporter Linda Deutsch writes that a California doctor accused of prescribing pain killers to three young men who died was ordered Tuesday to stand trial for second-degree murder in the overdose deaths.
