As a government shutdown looms, with Congress not expected to pass appropriations for the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, many patients and physicians are left wondering how the action will impact healthcare, especially for federally funded programs. 

While advocacy and physician groups alike, including the American Medical Association, are calling on CMS to rethink much of its 2,000 page 2024 Medicare physician payment schedule document, including its 3.36 percent physician pay cut, there are a handful of things the AMA says CMS has done right for 2024, according to a Sept. 29 report. 

Anthony Hao Dinh, DO, an ENT based in Newport Beach, Calif., was charged with 18 counts for his role in defrauding a federal COVID-19 program for uninsured patients of more than $153 million.

Nurses at Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based Vassar Brothers Medical Center, an affiliate of Nuvance Health, are protesting the potential elimination of ambulatory surgery nurse jobs and IV nurse positions at the system, according to a Sept. 29 report from the Times Union.

Georgia was named the state with the unhappiest employees in 2023, according to research from human resources technology firm SelectSoftware Reviews. 

Net revenue for ASCs in Pennsylvania grew 7.6 percent in 2022 from the year prior, according to a Sept. 28 report from Lehigh Valley Business based on data from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council's 2022 financial analysis. 

Alaska was named the state with the happiest employees for 2023, according to research from human resources technology firm SelectSoftware Reviews. 

Independent OB-GYN practice San Dimas Medical Group in Bakersfield, Calif. closed Sept. 12. 

ENT physician Oliver Jenkins, MD, and his wife Sherry-Ann Jenkins were sentenced to prison for conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and healthcare fraud. 

Here are six updates on COVID-19 spread, response and more ASC leaders should know:

New York City-based Gramercy Surgery Center's CEO, Austin Cheng, has announced his bid for U.S. Congress for New York's 3rd Congressional District via a Sept. 27 LinkedIn post.

Nurse practitioners are compensated the least in Florida, where they earn an average of $99,390 — 24 percent less than the national average — according to career website ZipRecruiter.

Nurse practitioners earn $155,981 per year in Nevada — 19 percent more than the national average — according to career website ZipRecruiter.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Sudipta Mazumder, MD, was found guilty for her role in a medical equipment scheme that defrauded federal benefits programs of more than $5 million.

About 52 percent of registered nurses take side gigs or extra shifts to supplement their yearly income, according to Medscape's 2023 "RN/LPN Compensation Report," published Sept. 26. 

A Houston-based physician and two pharmacists were charged in a 13-count indictment for their roles in a $170 million healthcare fraud and kickback scheme. 

Physicians under 40 earn the highest salary working in office-based single-specialty groups, according to the Medscape 2023 "Young Physician Compensation Report" published Sept. 26. 

While the average compensation for registered nurses sits at $85,000, RNs working in the Pacific region earn substantially more at $110,000 on average, according to Medscape's 2023 "RN/LPN Compensation Report," published Sept. 26. 

Income for registered nurses rose about 3 percent in 2022, while it rose by 10 percent for licensed practical nurses, according to Medscape's 2023 "RN/LPN Compensation Report," published Sept. 26. 

Physicians under 40 practicing in the western region of the U.S. enjoy a salary advantage over their peers in other regions, according to Medscape's 2023 "Young Physician Compensation Report," published Sept. 26.