Healthgrades Issues 2023 Best Hospitals for Spine Surgery On October 25, 2022, Healthgrades shared its lists for excellence in specialty care. According to a news release, to create the list, “Healthgrades evaluated patient mortality and complication rates at nearly 4,500 hospitals” and ranked the hospitals across 17 specialties, including spine surgery. The publication awarded dozens of hospi...
Report Finds Higher Rates of Physician Burnout in Recent Years According to an article published by the American Medical Association (AMA), “Three in five physicians reported at least one manifestation of burnout during the height of the Omicron wave that struck the U.S. during the winter of 2021–2022, pushing physician burnout rates to an all-time...
US Senators Push for Legislation to Stabilize Medicare Payments to Physicians US Senators Stabenow (D-MI) and Barrasso (R-WY) have been leading an effort to address Medicare physician payments. The Senators have circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter to other senators to sign onto; current signatories include Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Marshall (R-KS), and Boozman (R-MT). Once circulated, the...
Government Audit on Improper Billing for Spinal Neurostimulator Devices Leads CMS to Audit Claims In October 2022, CMS rereleased an October 2021 Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report on improper billing for spinal neurostimulator devices amounting to more than $636 million. The report reminds providers that when these services are performed in the hospital...