By Karen Shideler http://www.redorbit.com/ May 18–MEDICAL TOURISM GROWING Wanda Bough of Eureka combined surgery and a vacation and saved herself almost $23,000. She’s among a growing number of Americans who are opting for medical treatment in a foreign country because of soaring costs at home. It’s a trend called medical tourism or medical travel. It […]

By Valerie Bauman http://www.insurancejournal.com/ State lawmakers say New York Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to increase doctor oversight and prevent misconduct has a good chance of passing this session — but with changes. Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried, a New York City Democrat, says both legislative chambers will have a few concerns about Paterson’s proposal […]

By Lory Pounder News BRECKENRIDGE — Instead of going to the emergency room after ripping the side of his leg open while riding rails in the park, the uninsured snowboarder decided to duct tape it together. About 10 days later, he heard about Dr. David Gray and gave him a call. “He’d done a pretty […]

Paul A. Nutting, MD, MSPH, Associate Editor http://www.annfammed.org/ Family medicine has entered a fascinating period of transition and rebirth. In 2004 the Annals was pleased to publish the Future of Family Medicine (FFM) report1 and to track the rich discussion of family physicians in practice, academia, research, and policy.2 The FFM report quickly spawned the […]

by George Lauer http://www.ihealthbeat.org/ Virtual house calls — or virtual visits to the doctor, depending on your perspective — are making major strides toward the mainstream in North America. In the United States, two large insurers recently announced plans to reimburse physicians for online consultations with patients. Aetna expanded a three-state pilot project to the […]

Civility Mutual http://www.earthtimes.org SANTA FE, N.M., April 15 /PRNewswire/ — Civility Mutual, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, launches today as the first and only membership organization to offer education, training and CMEs for physician – patient communication effectiveness, and provides residency directors with the educational tools and assessments their residents need to fulfill the […]

http://www.eurekalert.org Announcement made at meeting of Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative More than a dozen specialty health care organizations today joined the four major primary care physicians’ professional groups to endorse the seven-point Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). The PCMH offers the benefits of a personal physician with a whole-person orientation who […]

http://www.marketwire.com  NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – April 7, 2008) – SynaMed, LLC, a leader in award-winning, healthcare technology, is proud to offer our free electronic medical record (EMR) and practice management system technology to physicians across the United States. The response so far has been tremendous as physicians rush to enroll in SynaMed’s “Free EMR / […]

By Mike Scott http://crainsdetroit.com/ Retail health clinics have made their way into metro Detroit and are competing with doctors’ offices for routine patient visits. Clinics contend that the quality of care is high and that when a patient requires urgent care or a visit to a physician’s office, the process is seamless, said May Hang, […]