cover story one
Health Care Supply Chain Dynamics
Finding room for improvement
By Luis Valadez
The concept of supply chain management is relatively new, first appearing in 1983. Prior to the industrial revolution, manufacture of nearly everything was local and relied on local resources. Greater production capacities brought greater supply chain needs, but they were constrained by simple exigencies such as delivery options. The internal combustion engine and trucks changed delivery options from boats and trains, but it was the life or death demands of World War II that brought supply chain management to its next level.
cover story two
Medicare Advantage Overpayments: An unsustainable future
by Kip Sullivan, JD
This year marks the 50th anniversary of a law that permitted health insurance companies to participate in Medicare. The law, known as the Social Security Amendments of 1972, permitted what was then a new form of health insurance, the health maintenance organization, to enroll Medicare beneficiaries. The law explicitly stated that HMOs could not be paid more per enrollee than Medicare would have paid if the enrollee had remained in the traditional Medicare program.
Practice Management
Practice Management: Which model is right for you?
BY DANIEL K. ZISMER, PhD, GARY S. SCHWARTZ, MD, MHA
The U.S health care marketplace is at an interesting inflection point, and this time it more specifically implicates career decisions for certain physician subspecialties, especially clinical specialties that operate primarily in the ambulatory care arenas. Particularly implicated are specifically identified clinical service lines (CSLs) that are not wholly dependent upon referring physicians for patients.
Pediatrics
Treating Pediatric Injuries: What happens in the ice and snow
by ALLYCE FISK, PA-C, MMS, REBECCA ROUSE, PT, DPT
At every age, kids play sports seriously and don’t want to be sidelined by an injury. The winter weather season in Minnesota creates new challenges. Winter sports and activities often bring new injuries that can cause significant issues for our patients and their families.
Men's Health
Circumcision: The debate of medical necessity
BY Duong Tu, MD
Circumcision, derived from the Latin circum- + caedere, meaning “to cut around,” is an apt description for the actual technique of removing the foreskin from around the glans, the head of the penis. It is the oldest documented elective surgical procedure performed in on humans. The technique of cutting around the glans has varied in the tools, anesthesia and timing. There are two broad categories of the modern method of circumcision:.
