Medical Journal February 2023 Digital Edition
February 23, 20231 min
Post Views: 1,440
Damage calculations in False Claims Act must account for services eventually provided
February 23, 20238 min
BY Phuong Nguyen and Beth Anne Jackson, Brown and Fortunato Early this year, a jury concluded a vascular surgery physician group (Group) violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by billing Medicare for services it had not fully performed at the time they were billed. While Medicare would typically deny a claim when the services are not fully performed, the Court, in response to the Group’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, ruled that...
Could on-demand pay be part of the solution to your recruitment and retention issues?
February 23, 202310 min
BY Sarah Wieselthier, Of Counsel, and Kevin Troutman, Senior Counsel, Fisher Phillips You are probably tired of hearing about staffing shortages and burnout. However, retention of nurses and other key professionals remains a major issue for Texas healthcare employers. You may also explore traditional retention approaches, like increasing compensation or improving schedule flexibility. On-demand pay is a revolutionary employee benefits program that you may also consider, as it has proved to enhance recruitment and retention...
The numbers are in: Our hospital workforce needs serious help
February 23, 20236 min
BY John Hawkins, President/CEO, THA Three years after the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals have started to put the pieces back together and take inventory of COVID-19’s wide-ranging, long-lasting impact on health care. That process is ongoing and will be for some time. But a recent Texas Hospital Association workforce survey reinforces and quantifies one fact that’s become abundantly clear: Hospitals are facing a breaking point for their workforce. Now, it’s been no secret that...
Integrative approach to menopause
February 23, 20237 min
BY Oyetokunbo Ibidapo-Obe, FM/OB, MD, and Samuel Mathis, MD, UTMB Roughly half of the population will eventually go through the symptoms of menopause. These hormonal changes affect almost all aspects of a woman’s life and health. During this time, patients may have hot flashes, changes in bone density, mood swings, changes in menstruation, slowed metabolism, and difficulty sleeping, to name a few. Several prescription drugs are available for these symptoms, but many patients desire more...
Healthcare & Life Sciences M&A: Where have we been and where are we going?
February 23, 20238 min
BY Darron J. Gill, Advisory Partner, Healthcare, KPMG As a partner in KPMG U.S. Healthcare and Life Sciences (HCLS) Deal Advisory practice, I am often asked in the early months of a new year about what is happening in the deal market and what I am expecting for the new year. More voices discussing a topic is better than one, so the KPMG U.S. Deal Advisory practice has been publishing its HCLS Investment Outlook every...
Lung cancer screening more cost effective when using risk model-based strategies
February 23, 20234 min
Risk model-based lung cancer screening strategies, which select individuals based on personal risk, are more cost effective than current recommendations based solely on age and smoking history, according to a study led by the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) Lung Working Group, which includes researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings suggest that incorporating personal lung cancer risk models should be considered for future recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)....
MD Anderson and KKR-backed Replay form new product company Syena to pioneer first-in-class TCR NK cell therapy
February 23, 20236 min
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Replay announced the launch of Syena, a new oncology-focused product company pioneering T cell receptor (TCR) natural killer (NK) cell therapies. Building on the intellectual property and technology from MD Anderson and Replay, Syena has the potential to create the next generation of cell therapy, combining the safety, potency, and scalability of NK cells with the ability of TCRs to target intracellular tumor antigens. The new company’s TCR NK cell...
Houston Methodist Sugar Land now offering incision-less surgery to treat swallowing issues
February 23, 20234 min
Patients with a disorder of the esophagus that makes swallowing difficult now have a local option for advanced endoscopic surgery that can provide relief. Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital surgeon Aman Ali, M.D., recently performed the first-ever peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) procedure in Fort Bend County to treat a patient with achalasia, a disorder caused by nerve damage to the esophagus. People with achalasia have difficulty swallowing food and liquids and often will regurgitate undigested...