By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
The venture capitalist will see you now. Unfortunately, it’s not the lead-in to a joke. It’s the next inevitable step in usurping the role of primary care. As those of us long invested in the health-centered goals of the primary care community mark wins with the patient-centered medical home, team-based care and care management strategies; as we dive deeper into the role that social determinants of health play in limiting access to care and optimal health and wellness – and offer practical solutions; as we find success with data-driven, population health strategies…the business people see dollar signs, instead.

The impetus for this blog is the early February news that [Read More]

JESSE A. MARKOS, ESQ.
Wachler & Associates, P.C.

Licensed Medical Professionals generally experience the same risk of developing problems with alcohol or drugs as those in other professions. An estimated 10 to 14 percent of medical professionals develop such problems at some point during their careers. However, they are five times more likely to misuse prescription medications such as opioid pain medications and benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drugs. Medical professionals are uniquely vulnerable to these medications due to a combination of stress, long hours and increased access. Those struggling with prescription medication abuse should immediately seek treatment. One option available is the Michigan Health Professional Recovery Program (HPRP). However, this particular recovery program may [Read More]

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
It has been nearly three months since the first cases of a new coronavirus pneumonia appeared in Wuhan, China, and it is now a global outbreak. Yet, despite nearly 90,000 infections worldwide (most of them in China), the world still does not have a clear picture of some basic information about this outbreak.

In recent weeks, a smattering of scientific papers and government statements have begun to sketch the outlines of the epidemic. The Chinese national health commission has reported that more than 1,700 medical workers in the country had contracted the virus as of Feb 14—that is alarming. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that [Read More]

By JEREMY BELANGER with L. PAHL ZINN
Many providers are familiar with compliance in a health care context. They know to make agreements compliant with the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute, for instance. But the keys to a good compliance system (policies and procedures, designation of a compliance officer/committee, training and education, communication, ethics and culture, top-down compliance, enforcement, auditing and monitoring, and corrective action) apply to areas outside of health care as well, including the operation of a business. This article will discuss two areas in which a business should apply the principles of compliance to their business practices: antitrust and tax.

Broadly speaking, antitrust laws are about protecting [Read More]

Gov Encourages Fist Bumps, ‘Smart’ Hygiene As MI Preps For Coronavirus

If you see Gov. Gretchen Whitmer giving people fist bumps instead of handshakes, here’s why.

Replacing handshakes with fist bumps or “elbow bumps” were among the suggestions made by Whitmer as she and state officials outlined what they are doing to prepare for any potential coronavirus outbreak in Michigan and how the general public can prevent against it.

There are still no active cases in Michigan. No one is currently under investigation for coronavirus. And the five people in Michigan who were tested for it previously all came up negative.

The governor Feb. 28 announced the activation of the State Emergency Operations Center [Read More]

The state’s new approach to revamp mental health services proposes to unite elements offered by entities that have been at odds with each other—private insurance companies and public behavioral health organizations.

Roughly two months after the Department of Health and Human Services ended the direct blending of physical and mental healthcare, DHHS Director Robert Gordon briefed lawmakers on a new physical-mental health integration approach.

Part of the proposal is the idea of creating multiple “specialty integrated plans” or SIPs, which the DHHS said in a press release today would “bring together the management skills of traditional insurance companies with the expertise and depth of behavioral health organizations.”

The association for the state’s Community [Read More]

By CARMEN HEREDIA RODRIGUEZ
Kathleen Hambleton once used to spend $100 a week on Marlboro Reds.
The 43-year-old nurse from Saxtons River, Vt., paid a high price for her addiction to smoking, undergoing multiple throat surgeries. The financial hit was also a big burden.

After lozenges, patches and hypnosis failed to help Hambleton quit, she tried vaping. She is convinced she is healthier now and spends less than $40 per month on her vaping supplies.

Vermont recently passed a 92 percent wholesale tax on vaping and e-cigarette products. Hambleton believes the sudden and sharp price hike is prohibitively expensive.

“When they imposed the 92 percent tax, I can’t affordably pay that,” she said. “No one [Read More]

Get Real On Pre-authorizations: Interoperability Is Key

By EWE MATUSZEWSKI
There is much left unsaid in the discussion of new Michigan legislation (“Health Can’t Wait”) that would curb insurance pre-approval rules in health care. Pre-authorizations are used not only to keep costs down, but to ensure that unnecessary testing (and physician shopping) is not performed on patients, especially a repeat diagnostic test where the initial test results are available.

Our organization submits at least 1,500 requests for pre-authorizations to payers per quarter, and denials are rare, sometimes zero. That’s because we use the primary care physician to coordinate patient care with specialists, as directed by those who follow the principles of the patient-centered [Read More]

MAPS Policy Leads To Drop In Controlled Substances Dispensed In Michigan

By JESSE ADAM MARKOS, ESQ.
Wachler & Associates, P.C.
Required registration and use of the Michigan Automated Prescription System (MAPS) has proven helpful in decreasing the amount of controlled substances dispensed in Michigan. Beginning last year, physicians in Michigan are required to register with MAPS and review MAPS patient-specific data before prescribing or dispensing a Schedule 2-5 controlled substance to a patient in a quantity that exceeds a three-day supply. These requirements, combined with other efforts to fight the opioid epidemic, have led to a dramatic decrease in the amounts of controlled substances dispensed in Michigan.

The Department of Licensing and Regulatory [Read More]

Double Your Signing Bonus, Double Your . . . Prison Dentists?
If the prospect of polishing prisoner teeth is not tantalizing enough to get more dentists at the Michigan Department of Corrections, the state is now looking to sweeten the deal by doubling the bonus money available for new hires.

Dentists hired for state prisons have been allowed a $5,000 bonus for several years now, but the DOC is now seeking approval for an additional $5,000 to be available once dentists complete their initial one-year probationary periods, meaning they can earn an extra $10,000 within the first year of employment.

DOC spokesperson Holly Kramer said the bonuses would be funded out of existing [Read More]