In an Oct. 1 opinion piece published on Medpage Today's physician-led blog, KevinMD.com, Shakeel Ahmed, MD, CEO of St. Louis-based Atlas Surgical Group, argues for the economic benefits of choosing ASCs for surgical procedures over hospitals. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill in California that would increase scrutiny over private equity firms and hedge funds acquiring physician practices, Radiology Business reported Oct. 1. 

Physician residents at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, who are represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents, have accepted their first union contract, according to an Oct. 2 report from NPR affiliate WHYY.

Los Angeles-based Alpine Physician Partners, in implementing Ambience Healthcare's clinical AI technology to support scribing, coding, CDI and patient summaries, saved an average 3.4 hours per day on documentation, Kilgore News Herald reported Oct. 2. 

In a letter to the editor published on Syracuse.com Oct. 2, Dignant Nanavati, MD, and president of the Onondaga (N.Y.) County Medical Society, urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto a bill to expand physician liability in wrongful death lawsuits, arguing it would "significantly" weigh on physicians' ability to provide high-quality care in the state. 

Many physicians have voiced concern about the impact of ongoing reimbursement declines and rising inflation on the ability to keep independent practices afloat. 

Physicians say their support staff spends an increasing amount of time on prior authorizations over the last five years, according to a recent Medscape report. 

The 2023 final MIPS performance-year scores have been released. The deadline to ask CMS for an informal review of scores is Oct. 11. Here are six things to know:

Physicians in the Mid-Atlantic region were more dissatisfied with private payer reimbursements than their counterparts in other parts of the country, according to Medscape's 2024 "Physician-Private Payer Relationship Report. "

Contract negotiations between University at Buffalo (N.Y.) resident physicians and their employer are stalled again after a four-day strike earlier in September, CBS affiliate WIVB reported Sept. 25. Here are five things to know: 

The "retailization" of healthcare has caught traction in both the healthcare and real estate industries.

The Iowa Medical Society said the state faces a "workforce crisis" in healthcare, reported radio station KIWA Sept. 17. 

Just 15% of physicians say that prior authorization "peers" deserve that title, according to an Aug. 30 survey by the American Medical Association. 

Over a third of North Carolina residents face difficulties accessing primary care physicians in the state, which is projected to see a shortage of 7,725 physicians by 2030, writes Grace-Marie Turner in a Sept. 12 opinion essay in The Carolina Journal. 

Rhode Island has been named the state with the most vaccinated residents in 2024, with Mississippi named the state with the fewest, according to a study from WalletHub published Sept. 11. 

The Louisiana Department of Health has appointed Wyche Coleman, MD, to the state's new deputy surgeon general position, nola.com reported Aug. 28. 

In the wake of another year of Medicare payment reductions, the American Medical Association on Sept. 5 called on CMS to be "fully transparent" about the effects of the cuts on physicians and patients. 

A plurality of hospitalists (28%) have a net worth of less than $500,000, according to Medscape's "Hospitalist Wealth & Debt Report," published Sept. 6.

In 2023, malpractice verdicts hit a record high. There were 57 medical malpractice verdicts of $10 million or more, with more than half of those verdicts hitting $25 million. 

About a quarter of medical students rarely or never see their friends, amid busy class loads and work expectations, according to Medscape's 2024 "Medical Student Lifestyle Report," published Sept. 4.