JANUARY 23, 2020
[Georgia’s] Top court turns down bid for damages-only medical liability retrial (related to AMA/MAG amicus brief)
AMA Wire
A Georgia patient’s husband cannot go forward with a retrial that would focus only on the damages awarded in his wife’s medical liability case and not allow a jury to retry the liability of the facts of the case. | READ MORE
Senate bill seeks an end to surprise hospital charges in Georgia (quotes MAG’s Derek Norton)
Rome News-Tribune
The days of unexpectedly big hospital bills in Georgia could be nearing an end if a bill filed this week in the state Senate reaches the finish line during the current legislative session. | READ MORE
Georgia lawmakers push for transparency in hospital finances
WABE
Georgia’s nonprofit hospitals spent more than $7 million in a recent year trying to influence legislation made at the state Capitol. State lawmakers, it seems, have set their sights on making the operations of nonprofit hospitals more transparent. | READ MORE
CVS expands in-store health care options at 16 metro Atlanta locations
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CVS now offers more health services at 16 of its metro Atlanta locations. The pharmacy chain has launched its new HealthHUB store design in the Atlanta area, with expanded services and products for patients and customers. | READ MORE
Georgia governor honors [former Sen. Johnny] Isakson with new Parkinson’s research program
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson received a hero’s welcome in the Georgia House on Thursday, where he was celebrated for his four decades of public service and honored with a new research program. Gov. Brian Kemp said the University of Georgia will launch a professorship to develop treatments for the Parkinson’s disease that forced the three-term Republican to retire. | READ MORE
Flu activity in Georgia still widespread but drops sharply
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Flu activity sharply declined for the second consecutive week in metro Atlanta but remains widespread throughout the state. Health officials have cautioned that it’s too early to tell whether the season has peaked or if flu activity will pick up again. | READ MORE
Georgia sees new push for higher tobacco tax, vaping regulations
The Center Square
Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, proposed a bill that would add restrictions on the use, sale and marketing of vaping products. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Inc. is urging legislators to enact a higher tobacco tax. | READ MORE
Right-to-die bill filed in Georgia Senate
Savannah Now
Georgians with terminal illnesses would have the option of taking medication to end their lives under a state Senate bill introduced this week. | READ MORE
Ruling deals blow to Georgia liver transplant hospitals, patients
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia liver patients may see fewer livers and organs of lower quality available for transplant within weeks following a significant legal ruling over how the U.S. allocates donated livers. | READ MORE
Why does telehealth fail to catch on in some schools [in Georgia]?
Georgia Health News
A state report on the Hospital Stabilization Program found that telemedicine projects were the area most commonly selected by rural hospital grantees. Yet hospitals that used telehealth in schools and other medical settings identified it “as the least beneficial or impactful project funded through the program...” | READ MORE
New 2020 CPT codes recognize E/M work that happens online
AMA Wire
Much attention is, rightly, going to the major overhaul of evaluation and management (E/M) office visit codes that will take effect in 2021 and is designed to reduce physicians’ documentation burden. But there are changes that have already taken effect January 1, 2020, that acknowledge new ways of communicating with patients and practicing medicine that don’t involve a face-to-face encounter. | READ MORE
Physical inactivity: Unhealthy, and all too common in Georgia
Georgia Health News
More than one in four Georgians report that they are physically inactive, among the highest rates in the country, the CDC reports. | READ MORE
Georgians support law requiring everyone to buckle up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The decades-long campaign to coax Georgia motorists and their passengers to buckle up could culminate in a new law this year requiring everyone in a vehicle to wear seat belts. | READ MORE
Advertise with MAG: Please contact Tom Kornegay at 678.303.9260 or tkornegay@mag.org if you are interested in running an ad in the Georgia Pulse, which is a weekly compilation of media reports that are related to health care and the medical profession. It is sent to more than 6,000 physicians in Georgia.
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Medical Association of Georgia
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Atlanta, Georgia 30339
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