Economics

This channel highlights factors that impact hospital and healthcare economics and revenue. This includes news on healthcare policies, reimbursement, marketing, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain, salaries, staffing, and the implementation of a cost-effective environment for patients and providers.

Report: Pfizer considers selling cardiovascular portfolio

Pfizer is considering selling its cardiology, urology and primary care treatments, Bloomberg reports.

Boston Scientific’s shares increase 5% after strong fourth quarter

During the fourth quarter of 2016, Boston Scientific’s sales increased 11 percent to $2.19 billion compared with the same time period in 2015, while its full-year sales for 2016 increased 12 percent to $8.84 billion compared with the previous year.

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Medicare beneficiaries with fewer cardiovascular risk factors may have lower expenditures

Older adults with fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease had lower all-cause and cardiovascular disease-related inpatient, outpatient and total healthcare expenditures, according to an analysis of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries.

Long Island cardiologist sentenced to 5 years in prison

A cardiologist in Long Island was sentenced on Jan. 31 to five years in prison on arson, weapon, drug and conspiracy charges, Newsday reports.

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Coding for Clarity: Echocardiography Gains Two New CPT Add-On Codes

The approval of two new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes acknowledges echocardiographic myocardial strain imaging and myocardial contrast perfusion echocardiography as emerging technologies, often a necessary step before a code is promoted to payable status.

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Healthcare's Underutilized Workforce: Deploy Physician Assistants + Nurse Practitioners to Improve Productivity + Quality

Many medical practices aren’t leveraging the full potential of their physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) and aren’t capitalizing on reimbursement for their services. As a result, practices may be leaving money on the table and missing opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency and quality of care.

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Vital Link: Advanced Practice Providers Roles Grow in the Evolving Healthcare Chain

Legislation that would allow advanced practice providers (APPs) to supervise cardiac rehabilitation under Medicare has been bottled up in Congress for several years. But for many in the healthcare field, the larger issue is how to optimize the skills and talents of APPs across the cardiovascular service line given the changes unfolding in the delivery of patient care.

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MIPS tips for cardiologists feeling clueless about MACRA

Attendees at the first day of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Cardiovascular Summit & Leadership Forum received “a big dose of MACRA,” said Howard T. Walpole, Jr. MD, MBA, course director and vice president of Clinical Effectiveness at Northeast Georgia Health System in Gainesville.

Around the web

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.