Do We Still Need Office Visits?
Like many primary care practices, after a hasty transition to a year of phone calls and video visits, my practice is slowly transitioning back to “normal,” meaning that we are now seeing more patients in person than by video. However, as I reflect on the past year, I wonder how central this notion of the […]
Oncologists Risk Self-Referral Violations Over Medicare Mail-Order Drug Rule
A new interpretation of a decades-old law could put community oncology practices in the crosshairs of regulators who monitor and enforce provisions against self-referral and add a barrier to patient access. Enacted by Congress in 1989, the Medicare Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly called the Stark law, prohibits physicians from referring patients to receive services from […]
Opinion | ‘They Don’t Play by Our Rules’: What We Heard This Week
“Hospitals are eating up practices all around us … and guess what? They don’t play by our rules.” — Mohammad Ibrahim, DO, of the Michigan State Medical Society, calling for the American Medical Association to adopt a policy to reform the Stark law. “After 3 years, we still don’t understand why some people experience symptoms […]
CDC Advisors Support Updated COVID Shots for All
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13 to 1 in favor of recommending updated, monovalent, XBB-targeting COVID-19 shots for everyone age 6 months and up. Specifically, the language in the recommendation supports the “2023-2024” vaccines as authorized or approved by the FDA — in order to cover the recently green-lighted mRNA shots, […]
CDC Advisors Back Therapeutic to Prevent RSV in Infants
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously — 10 to 0 — in favor of nirsevimab (Beyfortus) for protecting a wide swath of at-risk infants from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). At a meeting on Thursday, ACIP recommended that all infants younger than 8 months who are born during or approaching their first […]
ACIP Endorses 20-Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine for Kids
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) agreed unanimously on Thursday to include the 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV20; Prevnar) as an option for U.S. children. All 14 members voted in favor of the following four proposals: Routine use in children ages 2-23 months: ACIP recommended either the 15-valent PCV (PCV15; Vaxneuvance) or PCV20, […]
Opinion | Pharma Reps: A Blessing or a Curse?
Are pharma reps on balance a curse or a blessing to medical practices? On some days it is not unusual to believe the former, that the pharmaceutical representative is another obnoxious intrusion into the ever-decreasing time available to spend with patients. Some doctors habitually see these reps for a few seconds, just long enough to […]
Opinion | Keep Our Foot on the Gas for Clinical Trial Diversity
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked rapid innovation and adoption of new methodologies and practices across clinical trials. It also allowed the world to see the difficulty of ensuring diversity and access to those trials — a challenge we’ve faced for many years. Innovators in biopharma, life-science technology companies, and clinical research organizations (CROs) partnered with the […]
Here’s Where Private Equity Is Most Involved in Medicine
When it comes to private equity investment in physician practices, variations exist across geographic regions and medical specialties, according to research announced by the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation this week. Of the six specialties reviewed, the proportion of physicians working in private equity-acquired practices was highest in dermatology (7.5%) and gastroenterology […]
CDC Panel Backs Novavax COVID Vaccine for Adults
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously to recommend Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 and up. With a vote of 12-0, the advisory panel endorsed a two-dose primary series of the adjuvanted, protein-based vaccine, which will be administered 3 weeks apart. The recommendation follows FDA’s emergency use authorization last week. Shortly […]