Grassley amendment would boost reimbursement for rural docs

From Modern Healthcare:
Physicians working in rural areas would see a boost in Medicare reimbursement as part of a bipartisan deal struck by members of the Senate Finance Committee and attached to a broad health overhaul bill.
The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the panel, essentially adds more money to [...]

Pilot program planned for hospitalist certification

From Modern Healthcare:
Details have not yet been released, but the American Board of Medical Specialties confirmed that it is preparing to launch as early as next year a five-year pilot program to establish a process for physicians to become board certified in hospital medicine.
“I think it’s a linchpin for hospital medicine in terms of establishing [...]

First Video Laryngoscopic Intubation Performed via Telemedicine

From JEMS:
BOTHELL, Wash. – The Department of Emergency Medicine at The University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson, led by Dr. John C. Sakles, recently performed the first telemedicine-assisted video laryngoscopic intubation using the GlideScope® Video Laryngoscope to assist Northern Cochise Community Hospital, a small, rural healthcare facility in Southern Arizona.
An elderly patient, with a [...]

Effect of introduction of electronic patient reporting on the duration of ambulance calls

From the American Journal of Emergency Medicine:
Objectives
We examined the effect of the change from paper records to the electronic patient records (EPRs) on ambulance call duration.
Methods
We retrieved call duration times 6 months before (group 1) and 6 months after (group 2) the introduction of EPR. Subgroup analysis of group 2 was fulfilled depending whether the [...]

ACEP’s The Central Line Responds to “Excessive Care” Post

From The Central Line:
It’s All Excessive Medical Care In Hindsight
Buckle your seatbelts, kids, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
In yet another installment of “emergency physicians don’t know what they’re doing,” KevinMD provides a guest post by gastroenterologist Michael Kirsch, entitled Does the bulk of excessive medical care happen in the ER? At its best, [...]

Interruptions

From the NY Times:
So interruptions can be annoying. Can they also be dangerous? A 2001 study in The Annals of Emergency Medicine found that emergency room doctors experienced an average of 10 interruptions an hour, compared with 4 an hour for primary care doctors. Noting that interruptions and distractions are the most common cause of [...]

“St. Joseph’s Medical Center emergency room doctor steals Rolex leaves patient to die”

Ed. Inflammatory headline, eh?
From Justice News Flash:
Stockton, CA—A St. Joseph’s Medical Center emergency room doctor is under fire by the family of a retired Manteca police Lieutenant who died from a heart attack last June. The family alleges the doctor did not resuscitate their father so he could steal his Rolex. The adult children of [...]

CMS-855I

From the EDPMA:
This animation will show you all the tips and tools at your disposal to help complete the CMS-855I form successfully the first time. http://medicare.fcso.com/PE_Tips_and_tutorials/138970.asp

CHI, local group discuss Larned Kansas hospital’s future

From Modern Healthcare:
Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver, is negotiating with a local group that wants to run a Kansas hospital that the Roman Catholic system had wanted to close by Sept. 30, the system said. The closure plan was halted by a lawsuit last month filed by the Kansas attorney general’s office. The community group, the [...]

Air medical helicopter was reportedly trying to land at airport when it crashed

From Modern Healthcare:
A medical helicopter that crashed in coastal South Carolina, killing all three crew members on board, had run into bad weather and was trying to land at a nearby airport, federal safety investigators said Saturday
The helicopter had just dropped off a patient at a hospital in Charleston and was flying to Conway, about [...]