You may be more likely to wind up a long-term user of opioid painkillers if you're treated by a doctor who frequently prescribes those drugs, a new study reports. Emergency room patients are at greater risk for long-term opioid use…
Governor Ducey signed an executive order calling on 27 state boards and commissions, including the AMB and AOB, to submit reports listing what professional licensing requirements are on the books. The order requires boards to justify the existence of those…
To access past issues of Sombrero magazine, click on the month below to view PDF. December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 Aug-Sept 2016 June-July 2016 May 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 Aug-Sept…
Let's face it, it's not easy to be a physician anymore. Outside forces have doctors looking for ways to manage practice overhead, hoping to improving the bottom line. We understand your situation and have taken steps to assist you in your…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has made considerable changes to policies in its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) with the release of its final rule. Learn more at AMA Wire.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final version https://qpp.cms.gov/education of its physician Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). MACRA replaced SGR and moves physicians to a value-base payment…
Vitalyst Health Foundation, in their new report titled The Progress and Promise of Accountable Care Organizations, offers a look at the standing and role of ACOs in Arizona. Lead author, Palmer Evans, MD interviewed ACO leaders throughout the state for…
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has recently release new HIPAA guidance on the risks of being victimized by file-encrypting malware. Under the new guidelines if any healthcare organization’s computers are infected with ransomware…
In early July, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that updates payment policies, payment rates, and quality provisions for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) on or after January 1, 2017…
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced several new actions the department is taking to combat the nation’s opioid epidemic. The actions include expanding access to buprenorphine, a medication to treat opioid use disorder, a proposal…