Columnist

MIPS: Every Picture Tell a Story

By Jim Tate – CMS established MIPS to link physician reimbursement to quality and cost-effective care. The current 2024 Medicare reimbursement adjustments are based on the 2022 performance year scores (0-100) for eligible clinicians. The program is budget neutral and the potential range of adjustments range from -9% to +9%.


Clark on Connections: We Are the Sum of Our Experiences

By Susan Clark – Just as there are what I like to call Clonnections between people, there are also likely Clonnections between previous jobs or responsibilities that you had no idea would apply to what you’re doing now. At least, that is what’s happening to me at DirectTrust.


A Break in the Medical Affordability Crisis Clouds

By David R. Burda – As a journalist, I’m more of a bad news person than a good news person. I teeter on the line between skepticism and cynicism. I’m happier reporting on conflict than I am reporting on resolution. But every dog has its day, and one of those days came for me recently when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released an updated report on…



Has the Retail Health Boom Gone Bust?

By David R. Burda – My local Target store used to have a CVS MinuteClinic in it. Target has since repurposed that retail clinic space into a cellphone activation center. When it was a retail clinic, I always wondered what people were there for….



My, How the Margins Have Fallen

By David R. Burda – About this time last year, I wrote about record profit margins that hospitals posted in 2021, according to data from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) annual March report to Congress.