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Issue Date: June 2003

Report Endorses New Models of Chronic Care
This article discusses a report published by the Partnership for Solutions entitled "Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care." The report says that to improve outcomes for patients with chronic conditions, health systems need to address the issues of reimbursement, support for clinical staff, and physician training.

Resistance to Change Has Many Causes
This editorial discusses a study reported in JAMA on the use of management tools, such as practice guidelines, patient registries, and electronic reminders, by physician groups in their treatment of patients with chronic diseases. The study found that the tools are not being used by many groups, and the editorial discusses some of the reasons why.

Learning Spanish Helps Improve Care
This article discusses where and how some physicians are learning to speak Spanish in order to better treat their Spanish-speaking patients.

Experts See Business Case Lacking
This article discusses the work of researchers who studied the financial implications of implementing quality improvements;in other words, making a business case for quality. Without a business case for quality, the researchers contend, it is unlikely the private sector will move quickly to widely adopt proven quality improvements.

Online Consults Produce Results
This article discusses online consultations, focusing on a site set up several years ago by a family physician. The site, www.netlivemd.com, provides an initial consultation and other information--not medical diagnoses--to its current 500 subscribers for an annual fee.

Health Systems Offer Lessons in Delivering Care, Author Says
In this interview, George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, discusses the book he co-authored with George Isham, MD, entitled Epidemic of Care.

Rheumatologists Provide Optimal Care
This article discusses the results of a study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis showing that patients who are cared for by a rheumatologist are more likely to receive proper treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs than are patients cared for by a general practitioner or an internist.

Government Seeks to Shrink Payments for Medically Unnecessary Services
This article discusses the federal government's efforts to reduce the amount it pays for medically unnecessary services, the largest category of improper payments in 2002. It includes steps physicians can take to help establish medical necessity, as well as examples of services the OIG deemed medically unnecessary.

Speaking of Errors
This editorial discusses an error in the ICD-9-CM coding of covered diagnoses for lipid testing, as well as the lack of progress physicians are making in supporting the medical necessity of their services and the responsibilities of the privacy officer mandated by HIPAA.

Strictly Confidential: Does Your Practice Have a Privacy Officer?
This article discusses the responsibilities and duties of the privacy officer, which physician practices are mandated to have under the regulations in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.