Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

Universal Lead Testing Bills For Children Heading To Gov’s Desk

Young children must be tested for lead poisoning, with records of their testing placed on the same immunization certificate used to document childhood vaccines, under legislation currently on its way to the Governor’s desk.

“What this legislation does is it requires universal testing for minors for lead, and really what this is about is making sure that we are giving protection to kids from a variety of potential vectors of exposure to lead,” Sen. John Cherry (D-Flint) said to members of the media today, speaking about HB 4200 and his own SB 31 , [Read More]

By HARRIS MEYER
As regulators review Kaiser Permanente’s proposed acquisition of a respected health system based in Pennsylvania, health care experts are still puzzling over how the surprise deal, announced in April, could fulfill the managed care giant’s promise of improving care and reducing costs for patients, including in its home state of California.

KP said it would acquire Danville, Pennsylvania-based Geisinger — which has 10 hospitals, 1,700 employed physicians, and a 600,000-member health plan in three states — as the first step in the creation of a new national health care organization called Risant Health. Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente said it expects to invest $5 billion in Risant over the next five years, [Read More]

By SUSAN ADELMAN, MD
I am a pediatric surgeon. I have operated on babies who were born without a functional anal orifice, but I have never operated on babies who were born with what were called ambiguous genitalia. It just never came up in my practice. These were specialized procedures done by surgeons with advanced training and experience in such delicate matters.

With that caveat, let me weigh in on the subject of surgery designed to transition a child from his or her biological gender to the opposite gender. When I was in practice, a request for this type of surgery primarily came up in the case of babies with ambiguous genitalia [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
We’re a smart bunch in healthcare. We are always innovating, elevating and evolving with a tech-centric mindset. But in our quest to achieve quality scores of 3.0, 4.0 or the coveted 5.0, have we forgotten some of the basics so critical to quality, patient-centric care?  The recent hospital stay of a family member fraught with missteps and a mind-boggling lack of communication and human connection, has me thinking of a decidedly old-fashioned tool that needs to be re-emphasized in the health care context: the satisfaction survey.

In modern terms, it’s actually the user experience survey, but for our purposes it’s the patient experience of care survey. I can hear [Read More]

By SHEA MACE & DANIEL AYYASH
Wachler & Associates, P.C.

Overview

On Aug. 1 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule establishing the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) rates and long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS) rates for the 2024 fiscal year (FY). CMS is required to publish annual payment rates by law, which are based on factors such as diagnosis, patient condition, treatment provided, and the local cost of labor. Inpatient hospitals who participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program and show adequate utilization of an electronic health record (EHR) will see a payment increase of 3.1%. Long-term care hospitals will [Read More]

By ALLISON TUOHY
Dickinson Wright

Hospitals play a vital role in ensuring the well-being of communities by recruiting and employing skilled physicians. However, physician recruitment in compliance with the Stark Law can be a complex task for hospital administrators, especially as hospitals and medical practices face an average 7.6% annual physician turnover rate.[1]

The Stark Law, which was enacted to prevent potential conflicts of interest and ensure the integrity of physician referrals, prohibits physicians from referring patients for designated health services to entities in which they have a financial interest unless an exception applies. At face value, physician recruitment arrangements present potential Stark Law violations if hospitals expect referrals from physicians [Read More]

Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

Cannabis Sales Set Record In July As Price Rebounds

Cannabis sales hit a record high in July, according to Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) data, which also found prices for marijuana-related products on the rise after hitting an all-time low in January.

Total sales in July set a state record with nearly $271 million. Prices are still down year-over-year, but the CRA data showed the average per-ounce price of flower, known as bud, has increased steadily since the industry low of $80 in January to nearly $99 in July. The amount being sold and held in inventory also grew [Read More]

By CHERYL PLATZMAN WEINSTOCK

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.

Aimee Quicke has made repeated trips to emergency rooms, hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and psychiatric lockdowns for mental health crises — including suicidal thoughts — since she was 11.

The 40-year-old resident of Le Mars, Iowa, has bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. “Some of the visits were helpful and some were not,” she said. “It was like coming in and going out and just nothing different was happening.”

Then she heard about Rhonda’s House, a rural peer respite program [Read More]

By BRAM SABLE-SMITH, DANIEL CHANG, JAZMIN OROZCO RODRIGUEZ & SANDY WEST

Hal Dempsey wanted to “escape Missouri.” Arlo Dennis is “fleeing Florida.” The Tillison family “can’t stay in Texas.”

They are part of a new migration of Americans who are uprooting their lives in response to a raft of legislation across the country restricting health care for transgender people.

Missouri, Florida, and Texas are among at least 20 states that have limited components of gender-affirming health care for trans youth. Those three states are also among the states that prevent Medicaid — the public health insurance for people with low incomes — from paying for key aspects of such care for patients of all ages.

More than [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
‘Dr. Smith’, a specialty physician, retired during the pandemic. His office lease was up and the thought of committing to another five-year lease amid ongoing uncertainty seemed unwise. Did he move onto a life of golf, travel, and other leisure focused activities? Hardly. He didn’t move on at all. As a matter of fact, he was bored silly. It was an opportunity to switch fields and take on a new position at a local hospital that crystallized his thinking on retirement. Namely, he didn’t want to be retired – at least not yet.

I have plenty of other anecdotal stories of physicians who retired too soon. What I’m beginning [Read More]