MANAGED CARE April 2008. ©MediMedia USA
The majority of physicians surveyed about health care financing by the Indiana University School of Medicine were in favor of government legislation to establish national health insurance. Fifty-nine percent of the 2,200 physicians were in favor, while only 32 percent opposed it. . . . Barriers still remain among hospitals, physicians, and health plans when it comes to sharing patient clinical data electronically. A survey by the Center for Studying Health System Change identified two factors that are slowing down adoption of health information exchanges: concerns with data misuse and loss of competitive advantage. These organizations support the electronic sharing of clinical data among independent hospitals, physicians, and other health care stakeholders in a community. . . . Acupuncture may be a complement to some medical services and pharmaceuticals, a finding that may be of interest to insurers, providers, and policy makers, according to an article published in the journal Medical Care. Researchers analyzed managed care claim data from a midsize metropolitan insurance company. They concluded that the fact that acupuncture has an effect on other medical services needs to be explored more fully with an emphasis on how the additional use of this procedure affects patient health.