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2008 Health Law Year in Review
Another year is closing, which means it is time again for my year-end review of legal changes effecting Alabama health care providers. In 2009 we will see a new President with a bold agenda for revamping the $2.2 trillion U.S. health care system, new regulations designed to limit physician referrals, and possibly one or more new hospitals in the Birmingham area. Quality and transparency will continue to grow in importance for the next year, and I believe the frequency of government investigations will rise. However, there is always an opportunity for those who embrace the pending challenges through careful planning. With that in mind, following are my top 10 health law developments for 2008.
HOWARD E. BOGARD |
Researchers Look for Answers to Chronic Pain
Pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined. Because so many people are afflicted by constant pain of some kind, researchers are looking for answers to the many questions in the area of pain management and rehabilitation.
At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, researchers in the Department of Anesthesiology are studying brain images for information about how the body processes pain.
ANN B. DEBELLIS |
Robert Carraway Remembers
After one hundred years of service, the Birmingham hospital founded by Charles Carraway closed in October. It held the unique legacy of having three generations of the same family at the helm for all but the last three years of its existence.
"The hospital started for my granddad as a foundation of care from a spiritual standpoint, and my dad and I inherited the same values," said Robert P. Carraway, MD...
JANE EHRHARDT |
Saving Brain Cells after Sudden Cardiac Arrest
The 40-year-old man with chest pains suffered sudden cardiac arrest as his wife drove him to the hospital. On arrival at DCH Health System in Tuscaloosa, he was fibrillating, and it took over 20 minutes before he was fully resuscitated. But against the odds, he recovered with only mild neurological deficits.
"The outcomes of patients who die out of hospital from sudden cardiac arrest are abysmal," said Warren H. Holley MD, FACC, cardiologist with Cardiology Associates of West Alabama. "Ninety percent of those who get to the hospital won't recover neurologically at all."
JANE EHRHARDT |
CVA Holds Cardiovascular Update Conference
In mid-November, Cardiovascular Associates (CVA) held their second annual Cardiovascular Update at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center, with over 150 attendees, about half of whom were physicians, with the other half nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and RNs. "Most of the physicians were primary care physicians, as was our intention," said Jerry Chandler, MD, FACC, President of CVA.
STEVE SPENCER |
Rapid Bedside Critical Care Drops Mortality 19% at Brookwood
Codes have plummeted by 50 percent outside the CCU at Brookwood Hospital thanks to their Rapid Response Team. "Basically we’re designed to rescue the patient so that they do not deteriorate to a need for resuscitation. It's really bringing critical care to the bedside," said Kris Cherry, RN, DSN, CCRN, NEA-BC and the Administrative Director of Critical Care.
JANE EHRHARDT |
Spinal Cord Stimulation Helps Back Pain Sufferers
More than 26 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 64 experience frequent back pain, which is the leading cause of disability in Americans under 45 years of age, according to the National Pain Foundation. Finding relief for the chronic pain sufferer continues to be a challenge for physicians.
ANN B. DEBELLIS |
Alabama HFMA Holds Fall Institute
The Alabama chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, hosted its fall institute at The Wynfrey in November, with Brent Bishop and Roger Shultz serving as keynote speakers.
STEVE SPENCER |
Southeast's First Pediatric Pain Program to Launch in 2009
Physicians and staff of the Pain Treatment Division at UAB, in collaboration with the staff and leadership at Children's Hospital of Alabama, will begin the Southeast's first pediatric chronic pain medical program at Children's Hospital in early 2009.
This clinical initiative is the result of studies that show routine assessment of chronic pain in children and its effect on qualify of life is worthwhile, says Tom Vetter, M.D., Director of the UAB Pain Treatment Division. "Pediatric chronic pain is common and results in significant health care costs. Pediatric pain is both an individual and a public health concern."
ANN B. DEBELLIS |
CMS Adopts Final Rules Having an Impact on Providers of Diagnostic Tests
On October 30, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") released an advance copy of the final 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (the "Final Rule"), which addresses, among other things, the manner in which providers can bill Medicare for diagnostic tests and interpretations. The Final Rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on November 19, 2008, and will become effective on January 1, 2009. This article summarizes several of the more important new rules that may have an impact on providers of diagnostic tests.
JUDD HARWOOD, BALCH & BINGHAM |
Dr. SangAe Kim-Park Thrives in the USA
SangAe Kim-Park, MD has traveled a long way to her Trussville practice – all the way from Seoul Korea. She and her son and daughter came here when her husband was invited to UAB in May 1994. She had completed her medical training in internal medicine in Korea. While medical school was competitive there, she said that she did not face any discrimination as a woman getting into medical school.
LORI K. DITORO |
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