Public Health Series

Public Health Series

Part IV of IV

Over the past several years, issues of public health, e.g., community need and patient access to care, have become matters of concern and contentious topics leading to significant political debate. HC Topics' four-part Public Health Series has addressed, in past issues, changing areas of public health, including: healthcare nomenclature in "The New Language of Healthcare;" health disparities in "Health Disparities: What is Being Done?;" and, the effects of hospitals charging for emergency room care. The final article in the series examines the recent tax reduction legislation may impact patients access to preventative care.

Public Health Series: Payroll Tax Cut May Affect Access to Preventative Care

As a part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Prevention and Public Health Fund became the first mandatory funding stream dedicated to improving public health in the U.S. Under Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, nearly one-third of preventative care funding is diverted to other programs, which may inadvertently enhance the costly trend of reactionary rather than preventative care for chronic diseases.

On March 12, 2012, HHS released its final rule concerning state Health Insurance Exchanges, a critical component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although, the rule provides states with flexibility in the design of their exchange, some critics believe the final rule have expressed concern with the amount of uncertainty that still surrounds the operations of exchanges. (Read more...)

Capital Spending in the Current Healthcare Environment

The downturn of the U.S. economy has had a significant impact on the healthcare industry, with many hospitals and healthcare systems continuing to struggle in its wake. Persisting negative effects of the recession have led to uncertain long-term projections on capital spending within healthcare, although, recent data suggests that healthcare leaders are confident they will be able to secure funding for future projects. (Read more...)

Retrospective: Whistling Past the Graveyard - Part IV: "The Flim-Flam Man"

Part IV of this retrospective examines the complex struggle among the stakeholders of a proposed Management Services Organization (MSO) in the decade of the 1990s, particularly, the steps and setbacks to reach the initial IS software implementation and the effects felt among the stakeholders once implementation was achieved. The epilogue details the final results of the tenuous process of MSO development and the placement of the consulting team as Horatio Hornblowers of the healthcare IS world. (Read more...)