Businesses formed by physicians are covered by a state law that caps the damages in medical malpractice that can be collected from healthcare providers, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled last week. The court affirmed a May 2012 Court of Appeals decision which concluded that the state’s Medical...
After years of fighting physicians in state legislative battles to expand their authority, nurse practitioners (NP) are taking a new tack: Asking the Obama administration to require insurers to include them in the plans offered to patients in new online marketplaces, which open for enrollment...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP) continued deeming authority to accredit acute-care hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid. Based on its review of HFAP’s hospital accreditation program, CMS has...
In early August, Leonard Glass, MD, a retired reconstructive and plastic surgeon in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., launched Physician Retraining & Reentry, a $7,500 online course designed to help retired specialists make the jump to primary care without requiring a return to medical school. The...
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia currently allow nurse practitioners (NP) to work autonomously, but a bill to add California to the list has failed in the Legislature amid intense lobbying against it by the California Medical Association (CMA) and other powerful physician groups,...
Wahiawa (Hawaii) General Hospital has agreed to pay about $450,000 to settle lawsuits alleging improper billing, the Associated Press (AP) reported last week. An investigation began after a physician alleged the hospital submitted bills for services provided by resident physicians without the...
