States want to share patient Rx use to curb abuse

From the AP, via Google:

While a state online drug database went into effect last year to thwart addicts who bounce from doctor to doctor to feed a habit or make a small fortune peddling meds, there’s now a push to extend it beyond state lines to snare so-called doctor shoppers and curb drug abuse.

“The whole purpose of this is to have states communicating with one another,” said Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti, chief executive officer of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. “If you know a patient is abusing, a doctor isn’t going to give that patient a prescription any more.”

“These doctors need a big raise”

From BusinessWeek:

…on Apr. 22 and 23, as Bloomberg Businessweek went to press, the Council on Graduate Medical Education, a little-known federal panel, was set to recommend a dramatic change in the doctor workforce that treats Americans of all political parties.

The panel is calling for a 40% hike in the number of primary-care doctors—and a 40% income increase for those entering the field. That should get general practitioners to within 70% of the median income of specialty physicians. “Policy changes should be dramatic to remedy these legacy biases and have immediate effect,” states a council draft.

Source for more RN’s: Paramedics

From Hospitals and Health Networks:

Your Next RN May Be Closer Than You Think

Trying to persuade registered nurses to relocate to a new town is a time-consuming, costly and often fruitless exercise. One worthwhile alternative is recruiting hometown folks who are interested in becoming nurses and giving them a helping hand with the training process. Community hospitals like Hendricks Regional Health in Danville, Ind., are finding eager candidates among local emergency medical technicians. H&HN Managing Editor Bill Santamour learned how Hendricks’ paramedics-to-RN program works from EMS Coordinator Kathi Mortensen, who will be in the first graduating class later this spring.