There are large differences in the number and distribution of physicians identified as pediatric cardiologists in the datasets of the AMA Masterfile and the roster of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), according to a study published in the September issue of Academic Medicine. Use of such...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 34
Pediatric physicians at a children's hospital in Denver lack knowledge of basic requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals participating in Medicare to treat emergency department patients regardless of their ability to pay, according...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 33
Few empirical studies of explicit financial incentives for quality exist, and more research is required to determine the effects of pay-for-performance programs on the quality of healthcare, according to a systematic review of the medical literature published in the August 15 edition of the...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 32
Hospitals and physician practices are increasingly hiring mystery shopping firms to check on their quality of patient care with anonymous patient surveyors who report their findings and experiences. Although healthcare mystery shopping made up only 2% of the $600 million in revenue for the...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 31
Physicians will be allowed to accept donations of electronic prescribing software, electronic medical records software, and training services from hospitals and health plans under expanded safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Department of Health and Human Services announced August 1...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 30
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) announced in its July 12 issue that authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests and relationships relevant to the subject of the manuscript. Beginning in January 2007, JAMA will require...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 29
Contrary to popular perception, higher levels of uninsured, low-income, minority, and immigrant populations do not cause higher rates of emergency department (ED) use, according to an analysis of 60 American communities.
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 28
An analysis of physician labor inputs across regions with an academic medical center projects a surplus of nearly 50,000 physicians by the year 2020, based on regions with the lowest number of doctors per capita. The lead author of the study argues that adding more physicians to the workforce is...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 28
Fifty percent of healthcare providers in rural Colorado and Kansas believe that palliative care at the end of life could be improved at their facility, according to the results of a survey published in the Journal of Rural Health. Differences in perceptions of palliative care among clinicians,...
Credentialing Resource Center Digest - Volume 7, Issue 27
A study of quality process measures for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) found that their application accounted for only 6% of hospital-level variation in risk-standardized, 30-day mortality rates for patients with AMI. The study, published in the July 5 issue of the Journal of the American...
