6.30.2009  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is pleased to announce the availability of Qualified Registries for 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) Reportings.

A list of qualified registries can be accessed under the "Reporting" section page on the CMS website at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI.  Each of the registries listed has gone through a vetting process.  CMS believes that it is highly likely each of these registries will be successful in their data submission for the PQRI program.

Eligible professionals who wish to participate in the 2009 PQRI using one of the registry-based options may contact the registries for additional details on participation options.

All publicly available information on the CMS Physician Quality Reporting Initiative can be found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI on the CMS website.

6.29.09  WASHINGTON --Report gives La. 'very weak' rating
Stressing the urgency of President Barack Obama's call for congressional action on health-care changes, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a blistering report Friday depicting the quality of health care in Louisiana as "very weak."

The report painted Louisiana as a state where affordable health care is increasingly out of reach, where 20 percent of the population is uninsured, where nearly that number report skipping doctor's visits because they can't afford to go, and where preventative care is sorely lacking.

In Louisiana, Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine immediately responded that instead of reciting the litany of problems in Louisiana, Sebelius should act on waivers (state requests for exemptions or variances in government regulations) pending before her that would let Louisiana make changes to improve the quality of care. Read the entire article by Jonathan Tilove with The Times Picayune Washington Bureau. 

6.29.09   DHH developing plan to reimburse health-care providers
Private health-care providers who treat Louisiana’s poor are facing a $180 million cut in the government health insurance program that pays them. The amount is far less than originally expected. But the cut’s impact will be hard to measure until the state Department of Health and Hospitals drafts new rules. Read the entire article by Marsha Shuler with the Advocate Capitol News Bureau. 

AMA President J. James Rohack was one of several audience members to ask questions to President Barack Obama on June 24 during a special edition of ABC's "Primetime" with Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer. During the program, which was broadcast from the East Room of the White House, Obama fielded questions about health system reform from U.S. citizens selected by ABC News.

View Dr. Rohack's question to the president.

View Obama's answer.

6.21.2009  No Quick Fix as Demand Already Exceeds Supply  As the debate on overhauling the nation's health-care system exploded into partisan squabbling this week, virtually everyone still agreed on one point: There are not enough primary-care doctors to meet current needs, and providing health insurance to 46 million more people would threaten to overwhelm the system. Read the entire article by Staff Writer Ashley Halsey III from The Washington Post.

4.30.2009  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will delay enforcement of the new "Red Flags Rule" until August 1, 2009, to give creditors and financial institutions more time to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs. For entities that have a low risk of identity theft, such as businesses that know their customers personally, the Commission will soon release a template to help them comply with the law. Read the entire FTC release.