Not that I'm ranting, but the two week delay CMS has instituted for Medicare claims doesn't really help us docs much.  the issue is that Congress couldn't reach an agreement to reverse the cuts scheduled for March 1, so CMS holds the claims until there is some sort of agreement.  It's easier for them to retoactively pay claims than it is for them to figure out how to make a cut whole again after p

This post started out about Waxman vs. Tauzin but turned into Walmart hospitals and docs versus pharma. Indulge me if you will. The big healthcare debate has a few new key players: Mr. Billy Tauzin Hon. Henry Waxman Now you may remember Mr. Tauzin as a US Rep from Louisiana but since 2005 he has been working as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry. He started working for them the day he left office and had an instrumental role in the passage of prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients in that year. Hon. Mr.

Let the third party payers rejoice: Avastin for postoperative colon cancer is no better than conventional chemo. The results were released by Genetech in a news release. Never mind that ASCO is next month and would have made a better venue to release the results. Our astute Andrew Pollack highlighted the results in NYT today--perhaps Genentech was trying to float one under the radar only to be called out by NYT! This would have added $20 000 to the price tag of treating every Stage III colon cancer patient in this country.

Pharma industry to Uncle Sam: hands off our prices Medicare!" Got this story off the Schwitzer health news blog always an excellent source. Evidently the pharmaceutical lobbying organization PhRMA is making noise again about Medicare's (lack of) regulation over drug prices. Not to turn this piece into a rant but of all the players in healthcare the drug manufacturers have maintained the most market power over the years. The doctors gave up their ability to regulate their own prices a long time ago and shame on the AMA for allowing that to happen.

According to American Heart Association more than 1.2 million patients in the U.S. go through cardiac angiograms every year and out of which 1 to 2% of cases results in complications and nearly 25 people die every year with this process. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) however has revealed that noninvasive CT scans are almost as precise at imaging coronary artery blockages as against traditional angiography and are much safer for the patients.

Blood transfusion is the method of moving blood or blood-based products from one person into the circulatory system of another. A transfusion is the inoculation of a blood product by way of a needle inserted into a patient’s vein.

Health Discovery Corporation has announced an advance in prostate cancer testing. They claim to have Phase III data supporting the use of a genomic test to diagnose prostate cancer in negative prostate cancer biopsies. The problem is this: even if a man has a negative prostate biopsy (let's say for an elevated PSA) he has a 30% chance of having prostate cancer. We know this. My father-in-law for example has had a negative prostate biopsy a PSA of 7 and a strong chance of having prostate cancer. He refuses to have another prostate biopsy and I can't say I blame him.

As expected Bush vetoes Medicare bill Thousands of physicians affected by SGR cut still in effect

Medicare Advantage Program: no advantage for seniors Blog post explains why.

Kennedy leaves sickbed to "Save Medicare" Casts deciding vote to break Republican filibuster