Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD - Medical Justice

$220M for Pilot Communities’ EHR – Jackpot for Them, But No Practical Solutions In Sight

August 15, 2024May 5, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

The Department of Health and Human Services is releasing $220 million dollars (made available by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act) to fund 15 pilot communities with the necessary IT technology to incorporate Electronic Health Records (EHR). This amounts to a bit over 1/10th of the entire $2 Billion allotted to achieve meaningful use of new health information technologies. The goal is that every person in the US have an EHR by 2014. According to Kathleen Sebelius, HHS hopes that the pilot program will “Offer insight into how health IT can make a real difference in the delivery of health care.” In her written statement, she expressed hope that HHS will be able to “tap the best ideas across America and demonstrate the enormous benefit health IT will have to improving health and care within our communities.”

Now the reality check. That’s 14.66 million dollars per community to get patients, community providers and Federal programs all on the same page? The joint statement from Sebelius and Vice President Joe Biden suggests that the pilot programs will support tens of thousands of jobs in the health IT industry. One would hope so. It would also pay for 18,000 $800 laptops or 29,333 $500 desktop computers in each of those communities. In short, depending on populations, that much money should just about put a computer on every street corner and medical office, and still leave money to spare for the actual integration! But wait! That’s not all! Another $30 million is available for additional Beacon Community awards, so you, too, may end up with a laptop on every street corner and office! But what will any of this actually do?

Photography Consent and Related Legal Issues

August 15, 2024May 1, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Facial Plast Surg Clin N Am May 2010; Page 237 – 244 By: Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD, FACS and Michael Sacopulos, JD Abstract: The use of photography is an integral part of any plastic surgery practice. Photographs are part of the patient’s medical record and thus are covered by both federal and state privacy laws. … Read more

The 81 Million Dollar Misdemeanor

August 15, 2024April 29, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Breaking news today: “Two pharmaceutical subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $81 million and plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge in a U.S. Justice Department case about illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Topamax, federal officials announced.”

Let’s reread that one, break it down and let it sink in. The U.S. Justice Department has one misdemeanor case against Ortho-McNeil Neurologics and Noramco. The complaint is illegal promotion of a drug most people haven’t ever heard of. The promoting of a drug which has already been released as generic should cost Johnson & Johnson (the manufacturer’s parent company) 81 MILLION dollars in fines?

This isn’t a drug that has caused deaths. It’s not even inherently responsible for injuries. The drug isn’t the issue. The means of promoting it is. And that earns the Feds 81 MILLION dollars?

Senate Positioning to Regulate Health Insurance Premiums

August 15, 2024April 28, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) staked claim on controlling potential unwarranted insurance rate hikes by explaining her position: “Water and power are essential for life, so they are heavily regulated, and rate increases must be approved.” Likewise, she states, “Health insurance is also vital for life. It too should be strictly regulated so that people can afford this basic need.” Some may think the claim is mostly sophistry, but the Senator has a valid point. As it stands now, there’s a gaping loop hole for insurance companies. They may be required to accept pre-existing conditions, for example, but there’s currently nothing to stop them from gouging the rates into stratospheric proportions. A major concern about the HCR bill has always been that the insurance companies would pass the rate increases — increases that would make the cost of premiums so high that even the most affluent of the middle class would struggle to afford health insurance.

WARNING: “Obamacare” Insurance Scams Emerging

August 15, 2024April 27, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

In Alabama, fears of “government health care reform” have caused people to give a con man their bank account info over the phone. In Kansas, people have been claiming to be government employees collecting payments for the newly required “Obamacare” insurance.

Hard Time Getting A Doctor’s Appointment? Thank a Greedy Lawyer.

August 15, 2024April 23, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Everyone knows times are tough these days, but there’s a big difference between hanging out your shingle far enough for it to be seen and active selling. And that difference is driving good, caring, competent physicians out of practice in droves. Between the tough economic times overall, the chronic changes in government reimbursement, the hassle and delay in collecting at all, and the way that insurance companies come back and renegotiate after services have been provided… it’s no surprise that people have a hard time getting in to see the doctors that are still in practice.

They say it pays to advertise. Apparently it pays very well for jackpot trial attorneys. Medical Malpractice attorney’s commercials are all over daytime and late-night TV… now on the Internet as well.

Do You Feel You’ve Suffered From Your Doctor’s Neglect? Contact A Malpractice Attorney Now!

We’ve removed the links (why advertise for the enemy?) but the text remains the same.

The Liz Fowler Connection: WellPoint Commits Fraud, Targets Patients For Wrongful Cancellation

August 15, 2024April 22, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Federal investigators have revealed that the largest health insurance company in the country, WellPoint, is using a computer program to identify women with breast cancer. Why? To drop their coverage. Murray Waas, a well-respected investigational journalist, states WellPoint “specifically targeted women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent to cancel their policies.” Last month, Waas reported that AIDS patients were being similarly targeted for rescission. That practice has been going on since at least 2002, as is well-evidenced by the unlawful cancellation and subsequent cover-up in the Jerome Mitchell case.

Doctor: You Promised My Before and After Website Pictures Would be Anonymous

August 15, 2024April 22, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Many aesthetic surgeons place before and after pictures on their websites. Obtain patient’s detailed written permission before moving forward. Check. Place a black strip over identifying features if not highlighting facial features. Check. That’s it. Right? RIGHT?? Wrong. One surgeon learned that a de-identified photo had the patient’s name embedded in file name / properties … Read more

Health Care Reform Bill: Now Comes The Hard Part

August 15, 2024April 21, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

It took Congress over a year to compile and construct it. It took creative maneuvers to pass it into law. Already unfounded fears are sticking doctors in the middle of what it means to their patients. Now comes the hard part. The Obama Administration now has to turn 2400 pages of words into changes in Health Care. Here’s the latest on the teams that are supposed to do it:

Jay Angoff, consumer advocate, known nemesis of the insurance industry, heads up implementation of the regulation of insurers and insurance markets.
Jeanne M. Lambrew comes back with experience from the Clinton administration to work on expanding coverage.
Phyllis C. Borzi, a top Labor Department official, is assigned to ensure that employers are following the rules for some 150 million American insured persons.

Doctors Already Besieged by Questions About the new Health Care Laws

August 15, 2024April 19, 2010 by Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Though they wouldn’t have time to read the 2400 pages that are in it, though they had no real say in its contents and may even have been opposed to it, physicians all over the country are finding themselves bogged down by questions about the new health care reform law. Like most people, their patients are afraid of change. Some want to know if they will still be able to see their doctor. Others want to schedule surgeries before they even need them, out of fear that they may not be covered later. All of these questions are reasonable concerns, considering the relative vacuum of information on the practical implications and implementations of the new law. Nevertheless, they’re already starting to bog down some practices.

+ More