Arkansas blazes trail implementing healthcare reform
(July 12, 2013) – Beginning Oct. 1, more than 500,000 Arkansans who are newly eligible for affordable health insurance under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act can choose the plan that best fits their budgets and family needs. The goal of the federal law, also known…
Kids who undergo CT scans may face higher cancer risk later in life.
Article from the AMA Morning Rounds, 6-11-13 Research on the potential health risks of CT scans in children received moderate coverage in print and online, and on one of last night’s national news broadcasts. Although many sources portrayed the findings as alarming, they also pointed out that there…
House committee moves forward with plan to overhaul SGR
Article from the AMA Morning Rounds, 5/29/2013 A handful of beltway publications carry stories Wednesday on a new bill, out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which would permanently overhaul the oft-derided Medicare physician payment formula, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate or SGR. As the Washington…
Arkansas Family Physicians Lead the Way in EMR
Arkansas’ family practice physicians are outdoing their national peers in converting from paper to electronic records, which promise better efficiency and containment of cost, according a report in the Annals of Family Medicine. About 68 percent of family physicians in the U.S. had converted their practices to electronic…
Medicare SGR and Sequestration Cuts Averted
It’s over! Late Tuesday, January 1 the House of Representatives passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, averting tax increases and spending cuts from going into effect. The House voted 257 to 167 to send the measure to the White House. Among the Arkansas Delegation, Democrat Mike…
Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate Update
AMS recently joined the AMA and 109 other state and specialty medical societies in sending a message to Congress to repeal the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) payment formula and replace it with a system having certain core principles essential to creating a "high performing" Medicare program. Medicare…
Arkansas/AMS Leaders Featured in National Article
Medicaid: Docs Cautious About Arkansas Payment Plan By David Pittman, Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today | Published: October 05, 2012 Doctors in Arkansas who treat Medicaid patients are trying their best to put on a happy face about a program there designed to reward quality and move away from a…
US Supreme Court Upholds Mandate
On Thursday, June 28, the US Supreme Court issued its much anticipated ruling on the Obama health reform law. In a 5-4 decision the Court upheld the controversial individual mandate while negating a provision related to the Medicaid expansion. The Court ruled that Congress can enact laws that…