The Supreme Court sided with the FDA and unanimously ruled to uphold access to abortion pill mifepristone. The decision quells worries about what it might look like if the Supreme Court sided with the physician group — many healthcare leaders feared that if the top court could overturn mifepristone’s FDA approval, the same could happen to other drugs.

The post How Healthcare Leaders Are Reacting to the Supreme Court Preserving Abortion Pill Access appeared first on MedCity News.

Under a new final rule, eligible DACA recipients will be able to enroll in a Qualified Health Plan through the ACA Marketplace or through a Basic Health Program.

The post Biden Administration Extends ACA Coverage Eligibility to DACA Recipients appeared first on MedCity News.

AHIP, the AMA and NAACOS released a playbook last week that provides the best practices for value-based care. It is based on experiences from physicians, value-based care entities and payers.

The post AHIP, AMA, NAACOS Release Playbook for Value-Based Care appeared first on MedCity News.

The American Medical Association, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans and several other organizations came out in support of the Biden administration’s new rule on short-term health plans. The rule limits the plans to shorter time periods and requires them to be clearer about what they do and do not cover.

The post Health Execs Applaud Biden’s Final Rule on ‘Junk’ Health Insurance appeared first on MedCity News.

During a panel discussion at CES 2024, health executives shared safe ways AI can be used to support value-based care. This includes automating tasks and predicting who needs additional care.

The post How Can AI Support Value-Based Care? appeared first on MedCity News.

Nearly half of physicians are equally excited and concerned about the use of AI in their field, according to a new AMA survey. Those who felt optimistic about AI cited reduced administrative burden as the number one benefit they’re seeking. Patient privacy and the impact to the patient-physician relationship were the most common reasons physicians cited for having reservations about AI.

The post What Do Physicians Really Think of AI? appeared first on MedCity News.

To address the growing physician shortage, some people argue that the scope of practice should be expanded for skilled healthcare professionals like nurse practitioners and pharmacists. American Medical Association President Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld said this is a “terrible idea.” He argued that throwing other professionals into physicians’ roles will have poor ramifications of patient safety. In his view, the industry should focus on uplifting strong interprofessional care teams.

The post Why the AMA President Thinks Scope of Practice Expansions Are a ‘Terrible Idea’ appeared first on MedCity News.

Over the past decade, a significant percentage of the country’s physicians have shifted from working in private practices (defined as those owned wholly by physicians) to working in bigger, health system-owned practices. The ability to negotiate higher payment rates with insurers when working at a larger practice is a crucial factor causing this trend, according to a new AMA analysis.

The post Fewer Physicians Are Practice Owners Than Ever & Medicare Rates Are to Blame, AMA Says appeared first on MedCity News.

The 2023 Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor — which calculates how much a physician is reimbursed by Medicare for services — changed to $33.06, a $1.55 decrease from 2022 at $34.61. The American Medical Association strongly opposes the cuts.

The post AMA: CMS’ 2023 Physician Fee Schedule Would Create ‘Financial Instability’ appeared first on MedCity News.

The American Medical Association, American Hospital Association and other provider groups are suing the Department of Health and Human Services over a small but important detail of how it is implementing surprise billing legislation. They argue that the arbitration process for unresolved disputes currently favors insurers.

The post Provider groups sue as surprise billing enforcement nears appeared first on MedCity News.

Historically, providers had to meet certain criteria and address three key areas in the patient’s progress notes: patient history, physical exam and medical decision making. CMS has eliminated the history and exam components as required elements for billing purposes, so medical decision making is now the sole driver of the level-of-service.

The post How CMS final rule will impact E/M coding and documentation requirements appeared first on MedCity News.

AI tools increasingly occupy a regulatory gray area in healthcare. For clinicians to assess whether they are trustworthy, they need transparency on how they work, said panelists at CES.

The post At CES, experts say transparency key to ensuring AI tools work as intended appeared first on MedCity News.

The AMA is working to develop CPT codes for testing of COVID-19, which would allow physicians to bill for testing of the disease. The CDC also plans to add a new diagnosis code for COVID-19 in October.

The post AMA says CPT codes for coronavirus coming soon appeared first on MedCity News.

Time is running out to save on MedCity INVEST, the national conference highlighting investment trends in healthcare and spotlighting startups across health IT and life sciences.

The post A healthcare investment conference you need to attend appeared first on MedCity News.

Called the AMA Ed Hub, it includes educational information on topics like hypertension, oncology, professional well-being, patient care, ethics, health disparities and lifestyle behaviors.

The post American Medical Association reveals online education platform for physicians appeared first on MedCity News.

Dubbed the CMS Primary Cares Initiative, the program aims to reduce administrative burden for providers, while incentivizing clinicians to spend more time with patients and focus on preventive care.

The post CMS launches new value-based payment models for primary care in 2020 appeared first on MedCity News.

The duo is supporting the creation of nearly two dozen new ICD-10 codes related to social determinants of health.

The post UnitedHealthcare and AMA unite to address social determinants of health appeared first on MedCity News.

With $2 million in seed funding, the company, First Mile Care, is utilizing a coaching and support model in an effort to reverse prediabetes.

The post Health2047 spinout leverages community-based approach to tackle prediabetes appeared first on MedCity News.

The organization believes the deal would cause an increase in premiums, a reduction in competition in health insurance markets and a rise in drug spending and out-of-pocket costs for consumers.

The post American Medical Association says CVS-Aetna merger shouldn’t happen appeared first on MedCity News.

Health2047 CEO Lawrence Cohen outlined the company’s strategy following the group’s first spinoff last year of health data network business Akiri, previously known as Switch.

The post With a new CEO, Health2047 adds funding from AMA as it lays groundwork for 7 spinoffs appeared first on MedCity News.

The competition seeks solutions that show how patient health data can be captured by mobile devices, sent to a physician and turned into actionable information used to improve health outcomes.

The post Google, American Medical Association link up to create interoperability competition appeared first on MedCity News.

Machine learning tools are certainly spawning some exciting applications such as using medical images to analyze tumors and offering a new way to improve clinical trial matching. But how long will it take for these tools to become part of mainstream medicine?

The post How long until machine learning tools go mainstream? (Updated) appeared first on MedCity News.

Physicians and healthcare entrepreneurs have a new way to meet and engage in meaningful dialogue: the Physician Innovation Network, a new online platform out of the American Medical Association.

The post AMA’s Physician Innovation Network lets providers connect with health tech startups appeared first on MedCity News.

The American Medical Association has founded the Integrated Health Model Initiative, a collaborative that brings the healthcare and technology sectors together around a shared data model. Organizations such as Cerner and IBM have already signed on as participants.

The post AMA launches initiative focused on organizing health data appeared first on MedCity News.

Michael Tutty, group vice president professional satisfaction and practice sustainability with the AMA, talked about the Physician Innovation Network and collaborations with incubators and accelerators at the MedCity INVEST conference in Chicago this week.

The post AMA matchmaking program ISO early stage startups and MDs to exchange ideas, feedback appeared first on MedCity News.

Why have FDA-approved anti-obesity drugs largely failed, at a time when two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese?
Physicians, payers, and patients all have a role.

The post What’s weighing down the billion-dollar obesity drug market? appeared first on MedCity News.

The post One year later, mobile health best practice initiative Xcertia is reborn appeared first on MedCity News.

Also, pharma companies get access to de-identified data and a telemed app that aims to replace the patient visit entirely.

The post Last week’s must-read stories: AMA gets in bed with digital health company appeared first on MedCity News.

The healthcare community needs to rethink clinical processes, workflow and the user experience to begin the next phase of IT development.

The post Sticks and stones and snake oil: What will inform next chapter of healthcare IT development? appeared first on MedCity News.

Every week, we compile the most popular and interesting stories on MedCity News. Among the highlights this week were Rite Aid’s acquisition of HealthSpot’s assets and a counterargument to a comparison of digital health developers to snake oil salesmen.

The post 5 must-read stories this week: Rite Aid acquires HealthSpot assets and digital health snake oil debate appeared first on MedCity News.