TJC Revises Hospital and Critical Access Hospital Measures

The Joint Commission (TJC) revised several components of its Hospital and Critical Access Hospital standards to align with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) measures.  TJC implemented these changes based on CMS feedback on TJC's application to renew its deeming authority status.

These revisions will take effect on July 2, 2014.  Read more about these revisions from TJC.

CMS approved TJC's request for continued deeming authority status on June 27, 2014. 

AOA Prioritizes Graduate Medical Education in Strategic Plan

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) recently identified graduate medical education (GME) as one of five areas of strategic focus for the next three years.

The AOA seeks to grow its education programs by 30 percent with the goal to create a single GME accreditation system.  For the next few years, the AOA will embark on several initiatives to reach this goal, including increasing collaboration with partners and stakeholders as well as enhancing federal advocacy efforts. 

Read more about the AOA's GME initiative and its Strategic Plan.

Remembering Lynn Buchanan

Our profession has lost one of its finest this week.  NAMSS Past President, Lynn L. Buchanan, CPMSM, CPCS lost her courageous and hard-fought battle with cancer on Saturday, June 21, surrounded by family. 

Lynn served as NAMSS' President in 1998 and 1999. She will be sorely missed by all of us who personally knew her -- and those who didn't have benefited from her many years' dedication to her profession and the association as a leader, educator, consultant, and fun-loving individual.  She continued to work despite her illness and never failed in her positive outlook.  

We extend our sincere thoughts and prayers to her family and friends.  You may send your condolences to the Stewart Family Funeral Home or to her family:

The Buchanan's

120 Tierra Verde
Marble Falls, TX 78654 

Rest in Peace, Lynn.

NCQA Launches Study to Best Evaluate ACO Performance

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is teaming up with 20 healthcare organizations to develop mechanisms to effectively measure ACO quality, performance, and delivery.  NCQA expects to release a report on this assessment in the fall of 2014.

Read more about it from NCQA.

How Important are Background Checks?

The recent discovery of a licensed Maryland physician's sexual assault history sheds light on the role that background checks play in the credentialing process -- and how they're not mandatory in every state.

Read more about this case in The Baltimore Sun.

CPEP Discusses Risk Factors for Unsafe Physician Practice

The Center for Personalized Education for Physicians (CPEP) recently released a study that identified risk factors associated with poor physician performance.  By identifying these indicators, CPEP hopes to bring light to this topic in an effort to initiate proactive measures that address these risks and improve delivery, performance, and safety.

Read more about it from CPEP. 

AMA Adopts New Telemedicine Policy

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently adopted a telemedicine policy that encourages physicians to establish legitimate in-person relationships, that may include in-person consultation, before implementing and pursuing a treatment plan via telemedicine.  AMA's policy also recommends that a physician delivering care via telemedicine be licensed in the state in which the patient receives the treatment. 

Read more about AMA's telemedicine policy here.

Five Essential Physician-Leadership Skills

Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN Daily) published a list of leadership skills that are essential for effective physicians in today's healthcare environment. 

Check it out at H&HN Daily.

What do you think? What makes a good physician leader? How critical is it that physicians have these skills?

The Evolving Hospital Model

As healthcare continues to evolve, so too must hospitals.  We see this happening little by little at our own facilities everyday -- but the hospital of tomorrow may look quite different.

HealthLeaders Media provides an interesting look into tomorrow's hospital in its May 2014 issue of HealthLeaders.

FSMB Issues Report on U.S. Medical Regulatory Trends and Actions

Check it out at fsmb.org.

USMLE 2014-2015 Changes in a Convenient Chart

The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) has developed a quick summary of the examination changes that will take place in the next few years.

Check it out at USMLE.

Movements to Revise Nurse Practitioner Supervision Laws on the Rise

Here's an article about the movement in Texas to enable nurse practitioners to treat patients without physician supervision.  What do you think?

Read the full article on the Texas effort from Kaiser Health News and the Texas Tribune.