Jody Locke, CPC


Vice President of Anesthesia and Pain Management Services, ABC


Background


The majority of American anesthesiologists and CRNAs work for independent private practices and take great pride in their independence from the hospitals at which they work. Most of these group practices ...

Congress misses another chance to fix Medicare SGR


Our nation is facing a crisis in the Medicare program that only lawmakers can stop, but once again Congress has missed the opportunity to do right by military families and senior citizens. Not to mention the physicians whom they count on for care.


Congress had the entire year to repeal the broken physician payment formula and provide stability for the millions of seniors and military ...

There are times when patients are ushered into the emergency department in tiny Ellenville Regional Hospital in upstate New York, and they ask: Is there a doc here?


"There are no doctors here in the ED, I'm the one you are going to see," says Robert D. Donaldson, NPC, in his well-worn refrain. And yes, there have been the occasional snickers, or even calls to the C-suite to complain.


Donaldson is no doctor, but he's a ...

The AHA today filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Colorado governor’s decision to opt out of Medicare’s physician supervision requirement for certified registered ...

Wrapping up legislative business before the Christmas recess, the Senate on Saturday approved legislation that freezes Medicare payments to physicians until Feb. 29. In a vote of 89-10, the Senate passed an amended ...

Super committee gone, 27% Medicare pay cut threat remains


Washington -- Lawmakers again find themselves with less than a month to pass legislation to stop a steep decrease in Medicare payments to physicians.


Doctors are in the familiar situation of facing severe pay cuts brought on by Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula. On Jan. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services is set to start paying claims for ...

Comments of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Regarding Report 9 of the Board of Trustees, Support for Physician-Led, Team-Based Care Submitted to American Medical Association Reference Committee B


November 8, 2011


Dr. Liana Puscas, MD Chair, AMA Reference Committee B c/o Roger Brown, PhD Director, Office of House of Delegates Affairs American Medical Association 515 N. State Street Chicago, IL 60654


Re: Report 9 of the Board of Trustees- I-11, Support for Physician-Led, Team-Based Care


Dear Dr. Puscas:


I am the president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), which represents 44,000 nurse anesthetists (including Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and student nurse anesthetists) nationwide. The AANA submits the following comments concerning Report 9 of the Board of Trustees-I-11, titled, Support for Physician-Led, Team- Based Care. This report is based on a request by the American Medical Association ...

The first woman — and the first non-physician — to serve as the Army’s surgeon general will be sworn in Dec. 7, Army officials announced ...

(Reuters) - The U.S. healthcare system is more effective at delivering high costs than quality care, according to a new study that found first-rate treatment for cancer but insufficient primary care for other ailments.


The study, released on Wednesday by the 34-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said Americans pay more than $7,900 per person for healthcare each year -- far more than any other OECD country -- but still die earlier than their peers ...