This month, Medical News takes a closer look at HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in Kentucky. According to Julia Richerson, MD, with the Family Health Centers in Louisville, Ky., rates are on the rise and there is a lot of work being done, both here and across the state, to address it. Richerson stressed the urgency…
CFO Roundtable: Finance challenges in Kentucky’s changing environment
Medical News recently spoke with local healthcare finance experts to learn about the challenges they face in the changing healthcare environment in Kentucky. The executives were Holly Hodge with Bluegrass Care Navigators, Jim Mattingly with ResCare, Samuel Riddick with Family Health Centers and Christopher Roszman with Centerstone Kentucky. Below are highlights from our conversations. Medical News:…
Revenue impacts: Physician activity now under OIG scrutiny
By Shawn Stevison The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) routinely issues new Work Plan items. This year, the OIG has added two items to the Work Plan that directly impact physicians and their practices. In December 2017, the OIG added an item focused on looking at “Financial Relationships…
Increasing access to care through prescriber-driven pharmacist protocols
By: Cindy Stowe, PharmD, and Patricia Rippetoe Freeman, PharmD Standing orders and clinical protocols allow the delivery of prescribed care based on an agreed upon set of criteria. Pharmacists practicing in health system settings have had broad authority to provide protocol-driven care for many years. In contrast, community pharmacists’ authority to provide protocol-driven care has been limited to the provision of immunization services, and, more recently,…
American Cancer Society outlines legislative priorities
Expanding access to palliative care top goal. By: Lori Earnshaw, MD, Turner West and Kristy Young The need to improve serious illness care is particularly exigent in Kentucky because of our high prevalence of cancer and other serious illnesses and with the aging of the population. The Center to Advance Palliative Care defines palliative care as specialized care for people living with serious…
2017 Healthcare Leaders: Insights from the Physician Community
By Ben Keeton Each year, Medical News talks with healthcare leaders from across the Commonwealth to get their perspective on the changing landscape of healthcare. This year, we focused on leaders within the physician community to understand the opportunities and challenges that they face in improving healthcare across Kentucky. Leaders include: (click to view profile)…