JULY 18, 2019
Anthem’s fight with doctors shows risks for surprise-billing fix
Bloomberg
Doctors fighting a reimbursement battle with one of the biggest U.S. health insurers want to make sure that ending surprise medical bills doesn’t come at the expense of their pay. READ MORE
Mobile health care for kids [in Georgia] takes another step
Georgia Health News
Peach State Health Plan is partnering with Kids’-Doc-On-Wheels, a pediatric organization, to run the new mobile health clinic. It will offer well-child exams, asthma and allergy monitoring, immunizations and behavioral health care, along with other services. | READ MORE
An Atlanta doctor is now the first black woman president of the AMA (features MAG member Patrice Harris, M.D.)  
Atlanta Magazine
Patrice Harris was one of those kids who always had a quick answer when adults asked what she wanted to be when she grew up: a doctor. | READ MORE
[AAP president-elect] says children suffering in border facilities
Georgia Health News
A Georgia physician who visited migrant border facilities last month says she was alarmed by the signs of children’s stress there. Dr. Sally Goza of Fayetteville, president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said Monday that the visit by herself and other pediatricians underscored the organization’s position that the Border Patrol facilities are not a good place for children, and that kids should be there for as short a time as possible. | READ MORE
America to face a shortage of primary care physicians within a decade or so
The Washington Post 
The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of between 21,100 and 55,200 primary care physicians by 2032. | READ MORE
Insurers running Medicare Advantage plans overbill taxpayers by billions as feds struggle to stop it
Kaiser Health News
Health insurers that treat millions of seniors have overcharged Medicare by nearly $30 billion the past three years alone, but federal officials say they are moving ahead with long-delayed plans to recoup at least part of the money. | READ MORE
Shortening trainee doctor hours hasn’t harmed patients
Associated Press
When reforms shortened working hours for U.S. doctors-in-training, some worried: Was that enough time to learn the art of medicine? Would future patients suffer? Now a study has answers, finding no difference in hospital deaths, readmissions or costs when comparing results from doctors trained before and after caps limiting duties to 80 hours per week took effect. | READ MORE
Use of HIV prevention pill, PrEP, rises 500%, report says
CNN
Use of a daily pill to prevent HIV infection rose almost 500% from 2014 to 2017, according to new research published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than a third of people at risk of HIV infection are now protected with the medication, which is more than 90% effective, according to the CDC. | READ MORE
Scientists close in on blood test for Alzheimer’s
Associated Press
Scientists are closing in on a long-sought goal – a blood test to screen people for possible signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. | READ MORE
Urinary tract infections affect millions. The cures are faltering.
The New York Times
As the infections become increasingly resistant to antibiotics, some standard treatments no longer work for an ailment that was once easily cured. | READ MORE
Study: 40% of doctors refuse new chronic pain patients using opioids
U.S. News
Slightly more than 4 in 10 doctors' offices refused to take on new patients who need opioids to control pain, according to the analysis, published in the online Journal of the American Medical Association. | READ MORE
Number of clinicians, success in Quality Payment Program increase
HealthData Management
CMS Administrator Seema Verma revealed that qualifying APM participants in Advanced APMs nearly doubled in 2018 from the previous year, increasing from 99,076 to 183,306 clinicians. | READ MORE
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