Now
Online: Coverage of 2009 Health System Reform Summit
The
ACC held its 2009
Health System Reform Summit on February 1-2 in Washington,
D.C. The event brought together more than 100 health care
professionals and individuals with a passionate interest in
reforming the current systems of care for two days of discussion
on the roles and responsibilities of health care providers
in health care reform. The Summit provided an opportunity
for members to hear from leaders in the health care reform
field on the role of the medical community and also on issues
surrounding patient access to care and the financing of reform.
Live
coverage of the event can be found at ACC’s online
forum, The Lewin Report.
Senate
Approves SCHIP; Moves to Conference Committee
The
Senate on Jan. 29 in a 66-32 vote approved a $32.8 billion
expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
(SCHIP). The expansion would provide health care coverage
for 7 million children in lower-income families and is partially
funded through a tobacco tax, which the ACC supports. The
House on Jan. 14 passed a version of the bill, which includes
as a funding mechanism a ban on physician self-referral to
hospitals in which they have an ownership interest. The ACC
does not support this provision, which is not included in
the Senate version. The bill now goes to a conference committee,
where the two chambers will resolve the differences in the
bills. ACC will be pressing lawmakers to accept the Senate
language in conference. More
coverage is available from the New York Times.
Daschle
Withdraws HHS Nomination Former
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has withdrawn
his nomination for secretary of the Department of Health and
Human Services and health care czar, the Washington
Post reported on Tuesday. Daschle has admitted to
about $140,000 in unpaid taxes. President Obama accepted Daschle’s
decision to withdrawal, “after days of mounting questions
about the apparent ethical loopholes in the new administration,”
according to the Post. Daschle in a statement said, "I
will not be the architect of America's health care reform,
but I remain one of its most fervent supporters.”
REGULATORY
Now
Available: ACC Guide to 2009 Coding and Payment Changes
Significant
changes in cardiac device monitoring codes, as well as echocardiography
codes, will mark 2009 as a sentinel year for cardiology coding
and payment. The ACC has prepared an overview to help ease
the transition to the new codes and better enable physicians
and coders to prepare for and comply with the new coding structures.
View
the guide. Also, the document will appear as a special
insert in the February issue of Cardiology.
UHC
Extends Reconsideration Date for Physician Program
UnitedHealthcare
has extended the reconsideration request date for the UnitedHealth
Premium® physician designation program to Feb. 11, 2009.
This date gives physicians in the 37 states where the program
has launched an extended timeframe to review their assessment
report, seek clarification and, if necessary, request reconsideration
of their designation. Physicians who do not want the results
shown in their designation letter to display on UnitedHealthcare’s
Web sites until they receive the outcome of their reconsideration
should postmark his or her request by Feb. 11, 2009. More
information is available from UnitedHealthcare.
ACC
President Comments on Prasugrel
The
Food and Drug Administration's Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs
Advisory Panel on Feb. 3 voted unanimously to recommend approval
of prasugrel hydrochloride to treat patients with ACS presenting
with either unstable angina/NSTEMI oracc STEMI. ACC President
Douglas Weaver, M.D., F.A.C.C., provided public comments for
the meeting. FDA in documents released on Friday suggested
that use of prasugrel should limit use in individuals age
75 and older or with a history of stroke.
In his
comments, Dr. Weaver said that studies have found the effectiveness
of prasugrel in reducing the rates of recurrent non-fatal
myocardial infarction, rehospitalization for ischemia and
stent thrombosis is clinical meaningful. However, he said
that “if the drug is approved, additional studies should
be conducted to ensure its safety and to ensure that it is
prescribed to those patients who might benefit,” which
can be completed most prudently through a post-market registry
outside of the manufacturers’ typical post-mart analyses.
More
information can be found on the FDA Web site.
FDA
News Updates
The
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ZOLL Medical’s
R Series BLS and R Series Plus defibrillators. The R Series
BLS is an AED that becomes a full-featured, advanced life
support device. The R Series Plus, which has both AED and
ALS capabilities, has networking capabilities and See-Thru
CPR®. More
information is available from Cardiovascular Business
magazine.
FDA has
also approved a range of size for Insightra Medical’s
7Fr intra-aortic balloon catheters: 40cc, 35cc, 30cc, 25cc
and 20cc. The company said that the technology has been in
use for more than eight years. More
information can be found in Cardiovascular Business
magazine.
QUALITY
Opinion
Piece: Medical Data Must Graduate from Cave
ACC
CEO Jack Lewin, M.D., was featured in an opinion piece in
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan. 30. Dr.
Lewin writes, "In today's world there are too many prescriptions,
too many procedures, and too many variables for doctors still
to be relying on paper records that cannot be readily cross-referenced,
shared or accessed." Thus, "systems that share medical
records, warn of drug interactions and facilitate the process
of healing are absolutely necessary," Dr. Lewin wrote.
Read
the opinion piece in full, or view
other opinion pieces by ACC leadership.
