Study: Nearly half of all ER physician care goes uncompensated

From the Orlando Business Journal, via Chris Perrin:

Increased numbers of uninsured patients coming into Florida emergency rooms may worsen overcrowding, adversely affect quality of care and lead more ERs to close their doors, a new University of South Florida study shows.

USF researchers surveyed 188 Florida hospital emergency physician groups about the uncompensated care they provided in 1998. The 83 physician groups responding provided substantial uncompensated emergency care, ranging from 26 to 79 percent with an average of nearly 47 percent.

Uncompensated services are those for which no payment is received from either the patient or from a public or private insurer, such as charity care for patients who cannot afford to pay, bad debt from patients who choose not to pay their portion of the bill and denial of payment for emergency services by health plans.

The study also shows that emergency physician groups providing the highest levels of free care tended to practice in urban hospitals serving large populations of Medicaid and uninsured patients.

Verichip files for an IPO

From The Street:

Verichip, the Applied Digital (ADSX:Nasdaq – commentary – research – Cramer’s Take) unit that makes and sells radio-frequency chips for use in humans, filed for an initial public offering Friday.

“We believe that our patient identification solution is compelling for emergency room physicians as well as for patients who have cognitive impairment, chronic diseases or implanted medical devices,” the prospectus says. “Using our scanners, an emergency room physician can rapidly obtain the patient’s name, primary care physician, emergency contact and other pertinent pre-approved data, such as personal health records. We expect that this rapid and accurate identification process will reduce the risk of a patient being misdiagnosed and the potential liability associated with medical errors.”

Blue Cross & Blue Shield strikes deal with emergency room doctors

From Boston.com

Dozens of emergency room doctors reached an agreement with Blue Cross & Blue Shield to remain in the insurance company’s network.

Fifty doctors at Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital planned to leave Blue Cross’ network on Jan. 1 because they were unhappy with the payment rates the company offered

But the two sides announced an agreement Thursday that will allow Blue Cross to cover doctors’ services and emergency-room care at those hospitals. Had the doctors left the network, patients would have still been able to receive emergency treatment at the hospitals but would have faced more paperwork and higher costs.

A two-paragraph statement announcing the agreement did not say what led to the deal, but says Blue Cross and the doctors had “agreed to work cooperatively to address issues of mutual interest such as appropriate use of emergency department services.”