Jun 20, 2023 | Medicare, Physician Fee Schedule
Recent Developments in Interventional Pain Management: PFS policy has been mostly postive in recent years with a modest decline in 2023. Click here to read more.
Jun 20, 2023 | Drugs, Medicare, Physician Fee Schedule
Recent Developments in Oncology: PFS policy has been modest for hematology & oncology specialities. Click here to read more.
Jun 16, 2023 | Managed Care Friday
51: Percent of private practice psychiatrists in this country accept cash only, down slightly since 2017 but still high, and 89% of them in our poll are flat out fully booked. This is an issue on several levels, one being that many sub-specialists stay cash-only. You can get in with a specialist, but you almost have to be connected personally to them. In one situation, a psychiatrist from the Seattle area known for treating panic disorders couldn’t accept more patients and had a wait list longer than that line I waited in with dad to see Return of the Jedi in ’83. They will bend and take...
Jun 16, 2023 | BRG Conference Call Replays
June 16, 2023 BRG Experts John Barkett and Ashley Chilton discuss drug pricing and PBM policy and trends impacting the sector. Click here for the recording (if asked, use Passcode: Xp&8TZF4)
Jun 13, 2023 | BRG Publications, Pharmacy
The pharmaceutical supply chain is experiencing shifting market forces and is under scrutiny from policymakers in the Biden administration and Congress. The attached brief discusses congressional activity, administration actions, and commercial market trends for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacy distribution channels. Click to read more.
Jun 9, 2023 | Managed Care Friday
71/100: The portion of cardiologists from our national poll who are in the process of or contemplating whether to enter an affiliation with the local hospital to tap into EMR upgrades, reimbursement increases, and referral volume. 19 are contemplating merging with other groups, staying independent, and finding a way to partner with health plans, and 10 will retire. Of those looking to align with hospitals, the insurer isn’t surprised but wonders about cost – that Duplex ultrasound to test for a leg clot in a 79-year-old 2 weeks after quadruple bypass may be necessary, but at a 3x higher cost...
Jun 2, 2023 | Managed Care Friday
99: No not red balloons or that Prince classic but the amount in dollars that it costs people to get a cardiac CT calcium score, a scan that takes less than 10 minutes typically to see the amount of hardened plaque in your heart vessels and likely build-up in arteries. Insurers rarely cover this, but they may start to. “I could see it for healthy and active 50–60-year-olds with significant family history of heart attacks who would easily pass a stress test,” says Marla Calcaveccia, a medical director. Depending on the “score,” primary care doctors may recommend a statin or some other...
