The holidays are here, and this should be a time of the year where we unwind and recharge our batteries. Unfortunately, for many people the hustle and bustle of the holiday season drives up their stress level, with the need to get work done before vacation, screaming kids at home from school and of course the need to fight the crowds to get Christmas gifts.
The home health care revolution is very important, as we can save costs and take advantage of new technologies so that we can monitor seniors and others who would rather stay at home as opposed to more time in the hospital or a nursing home.
But with this or any new trend comes the possibility of fraud, and the government is trying to prevent abuses.
A report released yesterday by the Office of the Inspector General, CMS and Contractor Oversight of Home Health Agencies, underscores the need to reform Medicare’s current “pay and chase” practices and advance targeted program integrity reforms, according to the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare.
The report, which examines fraud, waste and abuse and efforts to identify potential fraud and abuse, cites specific geographic areas prone to fraud, waste, and abuse. This confirms research commissioned by the Partnership, which has documented that home health fraud and abuse is isolated to select areas. Analyses of Medicare data commissioned by the Partnership demonstrate that just five states have more than half (53 percent) of all home health agencies experience most of the provider and utilization growth, and consume nearly half (44 percent) of the nation’s total Medicare home health spend occurred in 2010.
Read the entire article and consider this issue as you face medical choices in the future.
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It’s no question that online poker has become one of the more popular games and that’s because it involves much more than mere chance. Being able to read players and anticipate their next move is a key asset of any skilled player. So it’s interesting to contemplate that doctors and nurses, who observe and read patients every day, might be well-suited as top-level poker players. An individual gives off subtle hints and signs that can give away an entire pot, but it all can easily be lost in translation to the untrained eye.
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The journal of Pediatrics has conducted a study which allays fears that being inoculated with the HPV vaccine would encourage sexual promiscuity among teenagers.
The human papilloma virus can lead to cervical cancer and the vaccine helps protect against transmission of the virus.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection, with about 50% of sexually active men and women contracting it at some point during their lives. Early sexual behaviors and multiple sexual partners are risk factors for infection, but other studies have hinted that the vaccine may not encourage sexual activity; in one review of 1,398 girls ages 11 to 12, there was no indication that that girls who received the vaccine planned to engage in more sexual activity. These studies, however, were largely based on self-reported data. The current study is one of the first to evaluate sexual activity after vaccination among this age group based on clinical data.
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More pharmaceuticals have been linked to a meningitis outbreak which has sickened 214 people killed 15.
New England Compounding Center, NECC, is the pharmaceutical company at the center of the outbreak and is cooperating with the FDA and the CDC advising doctors and surgeons to contact patients who have come in contact with drugs which may be responsible for the spread of meningitis.
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