SPOTLIGHT -
Hospitals Penalized for Excess Readmissions
The government will start penalizing hospitals for excess readmission rates, docking Medicare reimbursements by as much as 1% this first year and more in subsequent ones.
EHRs Need to be Incorporated into Med School
Health care technology may provide many benefits to both patients and providers, but it doesn't do a lot of good if medical students aren't being trained to work with electronic health records.
Health Spending will Stay Low
The low growth of health spending over the last few years isn't a result of the recession - the problem started even before that.
RNs Among Unhappiest Workers
For the 10 unhappiest jobs in America in 2012, registered nurses snagged one of the top spots.
Docs Failing to Disclose Financial Conflicts of Interest
Only a low number of physicians have disclosed a conflict of interest in journal publications when involved in off-label marketing of pharmaceutical products.
Social Security, Medicare Deciding Election Factors for Older Americans
The election is just three months away and there are certain economic issues that are driving voters to the polls. Older voters are concerned about Social Security and Medicare.
Parents' Poor Job of Educating Children on Money
In the aftermath of the Great Recession, early financial education is important, yet many parents just aren't taking the time to teach their children about money.
Government in Your Patient-Physician Relationship?
The American College of Physicians is concerned about the government's interference in the patient-physician relationship and released a paper offering a framework for evaluating laws that affect or could affect the relationship.
Bill Proposes Medical Education Reform
A bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives seeks to increase the number of Medicare-supported residency training positions, as well as establish transparency and accountability measures in resident training.
Federal Gov't Will Have to Run Some Health Exchanges
The state-based health insurance exchanges are a big part of the president's health care law, and the federal government is finding itself a lot more involved in them than initially expected.
ACA and Your 2014 Taxes
It may be two years away, but 2014 is important. It's the first year Americans will have to show they had insurance coverage for the entire calendar year or pay a penalty on their tax return.
Olympic Medals Worth Little Melted
Gold is as silver as the second place medals. The true worth of the Olympic medals' metals, plus the taxes U.S. athletes have to pay on their winnings.
UBS Picks the Top 25 Stocks
UBS Wealth Management puts together a list of the top 25 U.S. stocks, including expected price-to-earnings ratio growth for 2013.
Poor Financial Health of Primary Care Physicians
A quarter of primary care physicians are in poor financial health, distressing news considering the large role they'll play in coming years thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
Watch for These Top 10 Consumer Complaints
Cars kept a firm hold on the top spot for most consumer complaints in 2011 and real estate made its way into the top 10.
Recession Still Colors Physicians' Reasons for Relocation
Some of the top factors affecting a physician's decision to relocate are still directly related to the recession, even years later.
Fewer Drug Approvals Pushes Pharma Into Corner
The pharmaceuticals industry is already sweating the expiration of a number of patents over the next few years, and less approvals in 2012 isn't helping.
Dendreon Misses, Trading Halted
Dendreon tries to temper earnings disappointment with restructuring news, but trading in its shares was halted after closing on Monday.
Merck Rides High (For Now) on HIV Study, Earnings
Just after a study showed Merck's skin cancer drug helped force the HIV virus out of hiding, the company released a good earnings report that lifted its stock.
ACA Costs Less Than Initially Estimated
The costs are less by $84 billion, but that's a mere drop in the bucket of the $1.4 trillion deficit. However, it would cost more to repeal it.
Poor Earnings Season Worsens With Apple's Miss
This earnings seasons has been mostly a disappointment despite the fact a majority of companies beat estimates, because there's something else going on.
N. American Cities with the Biggest Travel Price Drops
The top five cities in North America with the biggest drops in hotel, airfare and car rental rates compared to a year ago. Vancouver, B.C. is looking pretty good right now.
Failed Alzheimer's Trial Slaughters Elan
Poor drug trial results sent the stocks of three companies down Tuesday morning when an experimental Alzheimer's treatment failed in the first of four big studies.
Downgraded Non-Profit Health Care Debt Tops Upgrades
In the second quarter of 2012, Moody's announced more downgrades of non-profit health care debt than upgrades. A turnaround from the evenly matched first quarter.
Death of the Solo Practitioner Almost Complete
The demise of the solo physician is official as a new survey reveals just how few recruiting assignments there were for solo practitioners last year.
Primary Care Pay Bump
Primary care physicians reported a large increase in median salary while radiologists (among the highest paid specialists) reported income growth that lagged.
Alcoa Kicks Off Earnings Season with Falling Stock
Kicking off earnings season is nothing to laugh at, especially for Alcoa, which just barely edged past estimates and still saw its stock drop.
The Best Children's Hospitals in 2012
Children need to receive different treatments than adults do, so the importance of a good children's hospital can't be understated. Here are the best in 10 specialties.
WellPoint Preps for Medicaid Expansion with Acquisition
With an eye on the future changes of Medicaid, WellPoint agreed to buy Amerigroup Corp. to expand the company's managed care for patients in both the Medicaid and the Medicare programs.
Physician Leaders Support ACA
Although Americans in general are sharply split over the decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act, physician leaders are more in favor and accepting of the ruling.