And four more news items for physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and CRNAs to peruse this week
- In a survey of 1,000-plus physicians carried out by athenahealth, more than half of the respondents concurred with the statement “my visits with patients are often too short for me to answer their questions and treat them effectively.” This athenainsight post touches on providers’ challenges, time-management strategies, and how to maximize every minute of an appointment.
- Last week, Pain Medicine News published “The CDC’s Effect on Pain Management for Nurse Practitioners.” The article highlights the importance of clinicians familiarizing themselves with and following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2016 guidelines to promote safe practice. It also underscores the benefits of patient-provider agreements, which have been deemed especially helpful in outlining opioid use.
- Earlier this month, as reported by Healthcare Analytics News, the American Osteopathic Association unveiled the Telemedical Drone Project. The program, known as HiRO (Health Integrated Rescue Operations), was developed to speed the delivery of medical treatment to victims of natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, through the use of remote physicians who can provide instruction to anyone at an affected site.
- A recent ICD10monitor post provides a great tip for physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and other healthcare professionals seeking recommendations for success regarding outpatient clinical documentation improvement (CDI), which can impact quality scores as well as reimbursement. The simple hack: Substitute “F/U of” for “Hx of” in documentation. It can make a big difference on your risk adjustment profile!
- Patient Prejudice: When Credentials Aren’t Enough, a new survey conducted by WebMD and Medscape in collaboration with national publication STAT, finds roughly 60 percent of healthcare providers—from doctors and PAs to nurse practitioners—have had patients make offensive comments to them based on their age, gender, ethnic background, race, weight, or other personal qualities.
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