Health Law & Policy

Urology Times found urologists who place themselves in each of the camps on health care reform, but perhaps the largest group wishes someone could explain what the legislation actually means for them.

Along with their ability to standardize and improve record keeping and communication, EHRs also have medicolegal implications, both benefits and possible drawbacks.

Just like any run for office, urologists need to work to elect judicial candidates whose philosophy on medical malpractice caps reflects their own.

As part of reform, It is clear that the government is starting to tighten control of physician-owned ancillary services.

What is it going to take for Congress to stop playing games with physicians who treat Medicare patients and develop an effective solution to the fee cuts that are scheduled every year and require last-minute, short-term solutions?

A major cause of concern among urologists and other physicians with large Medicare patient practices is a provision in the new law that will establish a new Independent Payment Advisory Board that is charged with reducing the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending indefinitely.

The American Association of Clinical Urologists has always been the political voice for organized urology and believes that urologists themselves must speak to elected officials directly.

Practices with 20 or fewer physicians may be exempt from the "Red Flags" rule, which requires physicians' practices and other businesses to spot and report identity theft, according to a bill unanimously passed in October by the U.S. House of Representatives.

As this issue of Urology Times went to press, passage of major health care reform legislation-on which AUA and other health care groups had devoted considerable time, energy, and resources-was in jeopardy.

Once again, urologists have had to face the prospects of huge reductions in their Medicare reimbursement rates because of the inability of Congress to resolve the problems imposed by the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, and once again, they must count on a temporary reprieve.

With guidance from the American Association of Clinical Urologists, Inc., urologists have scored key grassroots victories in state legislatures across the country over the past year.

It has become increasingly doubtful that even if Congress passes some form of health care reform this year or in early 2010, reform of the formula on which physician Medicare payments are calculated will most likely not be included, and that is bad news.

How will urologists be affected by reform measures aimed at bolstering the role of primary care physicians?

Once again we face a Medicare payment update for the new year that raises a number of questions, the answers to which are not favorable to practicing urologists.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is in the process of finalizing proposed Medicare policies and payment rate changes for health care providers that would have significant impact on many urology practices.

As the debate over health care reform rages, one thing is certain: Regardless of what happens in Washington, changes will occur in 2010 that will directly affect your practice.

Urologists from around the country give their opinions on health care reform.

Urologists plan on complying with new rules, but some see it as 'overkill.'

AUA expressed 'strong opposition' to the health care reform legislation amendment eliminating the self-referral exemption for in-office ancillary services such as CT scans on the same day The Washington Post ran an article with the headline 'Doctors Reap Benefits By Doing Own Tests.'

An effort by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to prevent physicians from administering anatomic pathology diagnostic testing services performed in so-called "pod labs" has been temporarily stalled by a U.S. District Court judge in a case brought by Uropath, LLC and several urology groups.

Jerome P. Kassirer, MD, distinguished professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and visiting professor at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, has told Congress and the American people that many doctors are “on the take” from the big pharmaceutical companies, which pay them in one way or another to prescribe their drugs to patients.

Two important Medicare policy changes have been implemented by the federal government, tightening hospital payment rules to discourage preventable in-hospital errors, injuries, and infections and implementing the third phase of the Stark self-referral law.

A group of medical specialty organizations, including AUA, is pushing new legislation that would delay permanent implementation of Medicare's "pay for performance" quality reporting program to allow for a more orderly transition to the new system of Medicare reimbursement.

For the third year in a row, legislation has been introduced in Congress to help resolve a troubling issue for many physicians who treat cancer patients: how to be fairly reimbursed for the cost of injectable drugs.

The average urologists is named as a defendent in a medical malpractice suit at least twice in his career. What can we do to reduce our risk for these lawsuits?