Author: Patsy Newitt

CMS has issued a final rule to help streamline Medicare Advantage and Part D prior authorizations. 

Baltimore is the metropolitan area in which physicians are paid the least, according to Physicians Thrive's "2023 Physician Compensation Report."

CMS policies are stifling the migration of procedures to the outpatient setting, Bill Prentice, CEO of the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, said at a California Ambulatory Surgery Association summit with payers and industry stakeholders. 

Orthopedic surgeons receive the highest incentive bonuses, according to Physician Thrive's "2023 Physician Compensation Report."

ASCs around the country are facing reimbursements that are not keeping up with the rising cost of living, leading to a declining number of truly independent, physician-owned ASCs. 

Charlotte, N.C., is the metropolitan area in which physicians are paid the most, according to Physician Thrive's "2023 Physician Compensation Report."

Some healthcare leaders say the No Surprises Act, aimed to protect patients against balance billing and create cost transparency, has accelerated reimbursement issues. 

Overland Park, Kan.-based emergency room physician Gautam Jayaswal, MD, pleaded guilty to ordering millions of dollars' worth of unnecessary genetic tests and orthotic braces as a part of a telemedicine fraud scheme, the Justice Department said May 9. 

Joel Cleary, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Grangeville, Idaho-based Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, joined Becker's to discuss the biggest threats to physicians and reimbursement issues. 

Physicians in the U.S. make $121.15 an hour on average, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational employment statistics survey.