Some patients can now get more than just a prescription at their local pharmacy. Two healthcare organizations, BayCare Health System, Inc. in Clearwater, Florida, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, have announced separate but similar partnerships with Publix and Walgreens that allow patients to visit specially designed telemedicine kiosks where they can video conference with a doctor to get a diagnosis and treatment for non-urgent medical problems.
A national coverage determination (NCD) related to implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) is causing some confusion. The NCD was issued on February 15, and the changes, while billed as “relatively minimal,” may actually require significant process alterations.
Case managers today face significant challenges when working with patients who abuse opioids. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s 2016 figures, some 2 million Americans had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain medicine in 2015, and an additional 591,000 had a heroin use disorder.
