Back
| Current Memphis Medical News |
Preparing for Pandemic
Lessons Learned Along the Way
Are we better prepared to deal with a major, widespread threat today than we were a decade ago?
"Oh man, absolutely!" was the unequivocal answer given by Tim Jones, MD, state epidemiologist for the Tennessee Department of Health.
CINDY SANDERS |
West Clinic-Microwave Ablation/Chemoembolization
Memphis now boasts one of the newest advances in the field of tumor ablation, utilizing microwave technology. The West Clinic announced last month it would offer microwave ablation as a treatment option for patients with inoperable liver, lung and kidney tumors.
GINGER H. PORTER |
Cervical Cancer Screening Lags Behind
The Pap smear, an annual test that checks for cervical cancer in women, is considered one of the most effective screening tools ever developed. Since the implementation of Pap smears in the 1940s, the number of women who have died as a result of cervical cancer in the United States has steadily declined, even as the disease continues to be the number one killer of women in many developing countries. Now, a test for human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical cancer, is showing promise of being an even more effective means of early detection, yet HPV testing in Memphis is vastly underutilized.
JANE SCHNEIDER |
Medical Economics: Healthcare Costs are Too High, and Here is Part of the Reason
Health insurer Cigna Corporation's first quarter net income was $208 million, compared to $58 million for the same period last year. Three years ago United Healthcare Corporation's CEO was the highest paid CEO in Minnesota, not including the $45 million dollars in options for the year. Other senior executives of United made multi-million dollar salaries. Look at the earning reports in the health insurance industry and you will see some of the same scenarios: million- dollar salaries and million-dollar stock options for insurance executives.
BILL APPLING |
Methodist's Plan B Foiled
Building a Solid Base in DeSoto County Taking Longer Than Expected
OLIVE BRANCH – Over the last few years, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Inc., has taken the good neighbor approach by increasing its presence in DeSoto County.
LYNNE JETER |
Common Table Update
HMCT Gives U.S. Policy Makers Feedback on Role of CVEs in Improving Healthcare
In February 2008, the Healthy Memphis Common Table (HMCT),was recognized as the first Chartered Value Exchange (CVE) in the U.S. by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Renee Frazier, executive director of the Healthy Memphis Common Table |
LEADERS IN HEALTHCARE: CIGNA Execs – John Sorrow and Chuck Utterback
In today's evolving healthcare climate which emphasizes cost control, quality measures and rating systems, it seems even harder now for physicians to focus on the priority of providing care. With these issues not going away, and this month being our Provider/ Payer relations issue, Memphis Medical News offered the payer side the opportunity to express their perspective. We talked with John Sorrow, president and general manager for CIGNA HealthCare of Tennessee and Chuck Utterback, director of contracting for CIGNA in Memphis about cost control, transparency, quality, and what insurance companies can do to make things simpler for providers.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE |
Shifting Toward Outcomes
Patient-Centered Medical Home Pilot to Provide Early Tests
Across the nation, healthcare reform is a hot topic, and one major element of that discussion is provider-payment reform. Although several models have emerged, the trend seems to be a movement away from the current payment system of volume driven, fee-for-service toward reimbursement tied to performance or outcome, with a goal of aligning payment with value. Proponents of this method feel it results in improved coordination of care and more effective disease management, which is expected to result in better quality and lower costs for patients.
SUZANNE BOYD |
Transparency: A Two-Way Street
THA Calls for Payers to Pony Up on Data
"From our perspective, transparency seems to be a one-way street," said Craig Becker, president of the Tennessee Hospital Association. He added that in today's increasingly "pay-for-performance" environment, providers are expected to post everything from charges to outcomes. However, payers … for the most part … have not reciprocated with their own data.
CINDY SANDERS |
| Reimbursements/ACOs Focus |
Virtual Colonoscopy Trial Hails Preventive Procedure, But Medicare Not So Sure
Ask radiology experts and virtually all of them will say that virtual colonoscopies are a less expensive, less invasive and effective alternative to conventional colonoscopies to screen for colorectal cancer. Yet there’s a flip side to that view – that CT colonography, as it is more formally known, is inefficient, since a regular colonoscopy must follow if the CTC finds anything suspicious.
SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: Rich Duszak,MD
Interventional Radiologist
As an interventional radiologist, Rich Duszak, MD, spends hours in the procedure suite. Today he's on deck to insert a stent into the renal artery of a patient whose blood pressure has skyrocketed. He likens the kidney to a thermostat, regulating the body by keeping blood pressure constant. When blood flow to the kidneys becomes restricted due to plaque buildup in one or both arteries, high blood pressure is a tell-tale sign.
JANE SCHNEIDER |
|
|
| Google Ad Blocks |
|
| Add our RSS Feed |
|
| |
|
