AMS NEWS

Misinformation Abounds on PDMP Mandate

The AMS office has received several calls over the past couple of weeks about Act 820, which mandates checking the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program prior to prescribing certain medications. Apparently, some hospitals are incorrectly telling their medical staff that the Act is already in effect. In other cases,…

Prescription Waiver for Disaster Declaration Counties

In April, intense storms and subsequent flooding ravaged parts of our state. The aftermath left Arkansans picking up the pieces. Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield wants to help members and is waiving prescription costs for Arkansans whose medications were lost as a result of the devastating weather…

NEA Baptist to open grief center

AMS group member, NEA Baptist Clinic, recently announced the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief, as part of the NEA Baptist Charitable Foundation’s continued commitment to the needs of the community. The NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief will open October 2017 at 1717 Executive Square in Jonesboro…

Weight-Loss Surgery Arrives at Heart Hospital

AMS group member, Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock, recently began offering weight-loss surgery as a way to fight heart disease and rising obesity rates in Arkansas. The newly formed Bariatric & Metabolic Institute at the Arkansas Heart Hospital started seeing patients at the first of the year and has had "hundreds of patients"…

Ark clinics participate in new payment model

Arkansas is recognized nationally as a leader in value-based healthcare payment innovation. In 2012 the state launched an episodic payment model and was also selected for the original Comprehensive Primary Care initiative (CPC). Arkansas’s efforts were reinforced in 2013, when the state was one of only six regions…

For Your Health’s Sake, Do Not Keep Up with the Kardashians

By Casey L. Penn The Information Superhighway. It can be a conduit to reliable, user-friendly health resources for patients (e.g., the Mayo Clinic's easy-to-navigate website, with facts and information written with laypersons in mind), or it can be a passage into a morass of exploited trends, suspect sources,…