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Second Look

If you missed these Headline News Now items, AAOS Now gives you a second chance to review them. Headline News Now is the AAOS thrice-weekly, e-newsletter for orthopaedic surgeons.

“Doc Fix” amendment
An amendment calling for a permanent fix to Medicare’s flawed payment system has been included in HR 9—a resolution instructing select committees in the U.S. House of Representatives to craft healthcare reform legislation that would replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The amendment would require the inclusion of a permanent fix to Medicare’s physician payment system in replacement legislation.

Although the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concludes that repeal of the PPACA would drive up federal deficits by $230 billion by 2021, House Republican leaders have dismissed the CBO projection as unrealistic.

EMR costs
According to data released by CDW Healthcare, converting to electronic medical records (EMR) may cost some physician practices as much as $120,000 per physician, based on the cost of equipment, software, services, training time, and potential lost revenue. The greatest cost will come in the form of lost revenue; physicians predict that they will see patient encounters decline by an average of 10 percent in the year following adoption, as physicians and staff adapt to the new system and workflow changes.

Physician shortages loom
According to data released by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), without an increase in the number of graduate medical education students, the United States will experience a shortfall of more than 90,000 physicians by 2020, including 46,000 surgeons and specialists. The strain on the medical community will be exacerbated by an aging population and increased demand by those newly insured under healthcare reform legislation. The report argues that eliminating the current freeze in Medicare’s support for residency training positions is key to addressing the projected shortfall.

Michigan antitrust suit
According to the New York Times, a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Michigan could serve as a test for portions of the PPACA. In October 2010, the DOJ filed an antitrust suit against BCBS of Michigan, alleging that the insurer included “most-favored-nation” clauses, requiring providers to charge higher prices to the insurer’s competitors, in many hospital contracts. In states like Michigan, which has a single dominant insurer, consumers could be harmed when health insurance exchanges are implemented in 2014, because smaller competitors could be marginalized.

AAOS Now
February 2011 Issue
http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/feb11/advocacy5.asp

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