AMA: PHYSICIANS OUTRAGED AT TODAY'S STEEP MEDICARE CUT U.S. Senate Allows Cut To Begin, Seniors' Access To Health Care Now At Risk WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate's failure to act before today's 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has put seniors at grave risk of reduced access to health care and choice of physician. "The Senate had over a year to repeal the flawed formula that causes the annual payment cut and instead they abandoned America's seniors, making them collateral damage to their procedural games," said AMA President J. James Rohack, M.D. "Physicians are outraged because the cut, combined with the continued instability in the system, will force them to make difficult practice changes including limiting the number of Medicare patients they can treat."

Using HIT as a ‘Game Changer’ in Health & Healthcare In late January, the Nashville Health Care Council welcomed a distinguished panel of experts for a discussion on the current state of health information technology and the potential going forward to utilize HIT to transform health and healthcare in America. Playing to a packed house, “Technology in Health Care: The Value and The Vision” shared the perspectives of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; Harry Greenspun, MD, chief medical officer for Perot Systems Healthcare Group; George Lazenby, CEO of Nashville-based Emdeon; and Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts. CINDY SANDERS

Readying for Another Round of Audits Medicaid Integrity Program Audits Coming Soon to Tennessee Just when you thought you were beginning to get a handle on RAC ... here comes MIP, ZPIC and OIG. More than just another round of the federal government’s favorite game of “Guess the Acronym,” these particular letters could spell big trouble for providers across the nation. CINDY SANDERS

Green Hills Senior Health Center Opens New Purpose for Former Easter Seals Property The Woodmont Boulevard building that formerly housed the Easter Seals Center, a familiar Green Hills landmark, has gotten a new lease on life as an adult day care center providing weekday care, social activities and therapeutic assistance for local seniors. KELLY PRICE

On Trial: Considering Clinical Oncology Trials as a First Line of Offense Once a “court of last resort,” too many patients and physicians still consider clinical trials the last step once all other options are exhausted. While that might have been true once upon a time, physician researchers involved in Nashville’s robust clinical trials programs said the opportunity to participate in a trial should certainly be considered a patient’s first line of offense. CINDY SANDERS

Advanced Laboratory Tests Assist Physicians in Fight Against Colorectal Cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death for men and women in the United States. Unfortunately, despite well defined recommendations, compliance with screening protocols remains suboptimal. However, for those patients diagnosed with CRC, there are several new and novel molecular and cellular diagnostic assays to assist the clinician with patient management decisions, including treatment selection and clinical course monitoring. It is anticipated that, as the demand for personalized medicine grows so, too, will the availability of these innovative laboratory tests. NICHOLAS POTTER, PHD, FACMG

Tough Economy Shifts Practice-Management Strategies Launching, Buying, Selling, Merging Whether you’re buying, selling, merging or launching a practice, the economic downturn requires abundant caution and doing your homework with fervor. That’s the advice of two practice-management experts, Rhonda Sides with Crosslin & Associates in Nashville and Edward Carter with Medical Practice Solutions in Murfreesboro. SHARON H. FITZGERALD

Beefing Up Income As reimbursements decline and economic woes persist, physicians are casting about for ways to boost revenue. Some avenues are traditional and some quite unconventional, and many do hold promise. Yet, Lucy Carter, partner with Carter Lankford CPAs in Nashville, has a word of caution: “What may seem like a good idea on the front end may end up being a lot of cost and hassle on the back end. The big consideration is, what am I going to get paid for this and what is it going to cost?” SHARON H. FITZGERALD

Disruptive Behavior is Bad for Patients Survey Reveals Troubling Conduct in the Healthcare Environment Being a good member of a team means playing well with others, but a recent survey by the American College of Physician Executives reveals that disruptive behavior by professional members of healthcare teams compromises patient safety, undermines cooperation and makes going to work a miserable experience. SHARON H. FITZGERALD

PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT: “Going Out To Face The Giant” Haiti Mission One of Many for Surgeon Mac Baxter After watching his family-practitioner father care for the residents of tiny Hernando, Miss., for 40 years, Malcom E. “Mac” Baxter decided healing was in his blood. That’s probably never been more evident than when Baxter and his surgical assistant Rick Hayes boarded a small plane in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 20 and landed later that day on the 3,300-foot airstrip in Jacmel, Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake nine days earlier. SHARON H. FITZGERALD

HEALTHCARE ENTERPRISE: Health Management Systems: an HIT Leader Embracing Clinical Technology Solutions What began as a small health information technology company, founded to provide affordable financial systems to community hospitals, is today one of the region’s largest HIT providers. Health Management Systems, Inc. launched in 1984, is the provider of financial and now clinical solutions to about 600 hospitals nationwide. SHARON H. FITZGERALD

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