Top Docs Radio

Centering Pregnancy On this week’s show, Womens Telehealth’s Tanya Mack sat down with Certified Nurse Midwife, Anna Cherry, of Providence Women’s Health Care of Roswell, to learn about how the centering pregnancy prenatal care program their practice has been participating in is improving outcomes for the patients they serve. Centering Healthcare Institute explains how centering pregnancy […]

Final MACRA Rules On October 14, CMS issued the final MACRA rule. This new Medicare reimbursement system is known as the Quality Payment Program (QPP). It offers two reimbursement options for physicians, including the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). CMS says 2017 will be a “transition year and […]

Talking Depression Major depressive disorder has a lifetime prevalence rate of more than 15 percent. That means some 900,000 people in the Atlanta region will suffer from an episode of major depressive disorder at some point in their lives. Major depression is associated with increased overall mortality, increased suicide rates, and marked dysfunction at work […]

Diabetes Telehealth Network As patients want more control and visibility to their health data and mHealth (mobile health) and technology are evolving daily, remote patient monitoring has emerged as a viable way to manage chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Remote home monitoring works by collecting health care data at the patient’s home and then transmitting […]

Turning Point Breast Rehabilitation TurningPoint Breast Cancer Rehabilitation improves quality of life for women with breast cancer by providing, promoting and advocating specialized and evidence-based rehabilitation. TurningPoint is a non-profit 501(c)3 healthcare organization. Services offered include physical therapy, massage therapy, exercise classes, educational seminars, counseling, and nutritional counseling.

Michele Madison

Healthcare Attorney Michele Madison Talks Healthcare Reform In 2017

On this week’s episode, healthcare expert, Michele Madison, attorney with Morris, Manning, & Martin LLP, stopped by to talk about healthcare reform, what is coming and what it means for physician practices. 

With November’s national election ushering in a new administration and rapid movement to make significant changes to the Affordable Care Act, healthcare practitioners and organizations have legitimate questions about efforts they should undertake to become compliant with ACA rules.

Michele shared her perspective on how healthcare leadership and practitioners should approach various aspects of ACA compliance in 2017, a year in which major elements affecting reporting and reimbursement were to be implemented.

 

GA Rep. Allen Peake Discusses Medical Marijuana Legislation

Representative Allen Peake serves the citizens of Georgia’s 141st District, which includes Macon. He is in his sixth term in the Georgia House. In 2015, Representative Peake sponsored Haleigh’s Hope Bill – a measure that was signed into law that allows Georgians who have specific conditions – including children who have seizures – to possess medical cannabis oil in Georgia. He is now sponsoring a bill that would expand the list of conditions that are covered by that law – as well as legislation that would allow a public vote on whether Georgia should allow the production and distribution of medical cannabis.

 

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

This week Womens Telehealth CEO, Tanya Mack hosts Dr. Meg Prado to talk about Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.  With the continued rise in rates of prescription medications, coupled with high incidence of illicit drug use, it is becoming all-too-common for babies to be born who are addicted to prescription and/or illicit drugs.

Dr. Prado joined us to talk about the scope of this problem, along with what clinicians who care for pregnant mothers and/or newborn infants need to look out for to identify these babies as soon as possible to be able to adequately care for them.

 

Georgia State Representative, Dist. 43, Sharon Cooper

House HHS chair addresses flawed eye care bills on ‘Top Docs’ show 

Georgia Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) – the chair of the Georgia House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee – discussed several bills that she believes would place thousands of Georgians at risk of blindness and other serious eye complications when she appeared on a special edition of the Medical Association of Georgia’s (MAG) ‘Top Docs Radio’ program on the Business Radio-X Network on February 23. Click here to listen to a recording of the show.

Rep. Cooper addressed her concerns surrounding H.B. 416 and S.B. 221, measures that would allow optometrists to perform a variety of extraocular injections.

MAG President Steven M. Walsh, M.D., shares Rep. Cooper’s concerns, stressing that, “MAG is opposing these measures because they would inappropriately expand optometrists’ scope of practice and they would undermine patient care.”

Rep. Cooper also notes that, “Medicine is effectively under attack these days, so it is imperative for doctors to get involved in the legislative process.”

She is encouraging physicians and patients to (to what action…contact who?) to encourage lawmakers to oppose H.B. 416 and S.B. 221.

Rep. Cooper has sponsored key legislation that has been enacted in Georgia, including an HIV screening bill for pregnant women, the Georgia’s Smoke Free Air Act, and the Health Share Volunteers in Medicine Act.

MAG sponsors the ‘Top Docs’ program at 12 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. Between downloads and live listeners, MAG’s ‘Top Docs’ show has reached more than 9,000 listeners – which includes people in all 50 states and 84 countries.

MAG’s ‘Top Docs Radio’ show is supported with a grant from Health Care Research, a subsidiary of Alliant Health Solutions.

Contact MAG Government Relations Director Derek Norton at [email protected] or 404.274.4210 with questions related to H.B. 416 and S.B. 221.

Dr. Matt Keady and Dr. Mark Bernardy

Surprise Insurance Coverage Gaps

After receiving emergency care at an “in-network” hospital, patients often discover that they

received care from an “out-of- network” physician and owe a lot of money. This is the “surprise

insurance coverage gap.” The patient pays their monthly premium, yet they receive unexpected

“balance bills” for amounts their insurance company refuses to cover – keeping in mind the

insurers are narrowing their networks to reduce costs and maximize profits by subjecting

physicians to inadequate, take-it- or-leave- it contracts.

Physicians in Georgia believe that it is critical to end the surprise insurance gap in emergency

medicine care settings. Physicians have seen their patients’ financial burden increase in dramatic

ways as health insurance companies have narrowed their networks. Health insurance is so

ambiguous that the most sophisticated patients have trouble understanding the rules.

Many patients try to do the right thing and go to a hospital that is in their insurance network during an

emergency – but they often don’t have any way of knowing when a doctor they need to see is in or

out of their network.  The Medical Association Georgia and other physician and patient advocacy organizations are calling for state lawmakers to put an end to balance billing in emergency care settings by passing legislation that will close the surprise coverage gap. MAG is also supporting the ‘End the Surprise Insurance Gap’ campaign.

Dr. Matthew Keadey has been an emergency physician in the Atlanta area for nearly 20 years. He

began his career at Emory Healthcare. He now works in the Emory and Grady Health systems. He

is the president-elect of the Georgia College of Emergency Physicians, and he is a member of the

Medical Association of Georgia. Dr. Keadey is an expert in emergency department billing, coding

and reimbursement.

Dr. Mark Bernardy has been a private practice general/interventional radiologist in Georgia for 30

years. He is a member of the Georgia Radiological Society’s Board of Directors. Dr. Bernardy is

the vice chair of the American College of Radiology’s Economics Commission and a board

member of the Radiology Business Management Association. He is active in Georgia politics,

advocating for radiologists, physicians, and patients. His advocacy efforts started with colon

cancer screening.

Drs. Keadey and Bernardy are leading advocates for ensuring that patients have access to fair

insurance coverage in emergency care settings in Georgia.