Current Louisiana Medical News

State Moves Medicaid Toward Coordinated Care

2010-06-30T10:24:02Z

Shifting Louisiana's Medicaid system to coordinated care networks will save the state money, improve patient outcomes and may draw national insurers, according to a report by HealthLeaders-Interstudy.

Healthcare Reform Affects Medicare Patients and the Under 65 Set Differently

2010-06-30T10:24:02Z

How to Answer Questions from Your Patients
If you’re a physician, chances are you have already fielded a bevy of questions from patients about healthcare reform. Rest assured, the questions will keep coming. Experts say that doctors need to be up to speed, and fast, about how reform will affect their patients’ healthcare and their insurance options in the future.

Avoiding Danger in the Workplace

2010-06-30T10:24:02Z

Bureau of Labor Statistics Shows Higher Incidents of Violence in Healthcare Settings
Every year, thousands of workers in the healthcare and social services industries are confronted with threats of violence and actual assaults.

The Guardian

2010-06-30T10:24:02Z

John Sutton Trains Healthcare Providers on Safety, Security, Self-Defense
NEW ORLEANS—After honing skills in martial arts and boxing during the early 1990s, John Sutton was approached by several nurses working in home care, asking him to teach them self-defense techniques and to accompany them to troublesome houses.

Nurse Practitioner’s Link Leads to Liver-free Rice Dressing

2010-06-30T10:24:02Z

South Louisiana is renowned for its Cajun cuisine. One of the staples of a festive Acadiana feast is a rich, roux-based rice dressing mixed with finely chopped liver. It was this very delicacy that observant nurse practitioner Stella Souther linked to increased vitamin K levels in her cardiac clients.

Raising a Voice

2010-06-30T10:24:02Z

More Hospitals Turning to Nursing Shared Governance
When the professional guideline committee that reviews dress code at North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC) brought up the question—What about nurses going back to wearing all white instead of different colored scrubs so patients could more easily identify them?—the 1,200 staff nurses at America’s largest rural nonprofit hospital were glad to have council representation in the form of nursing shared governance.

Sometimes I Wish Something Could Just Stay the Same

2010-06-30T10:24:02Z

Version 5010 Transition for Electronic Claims Submission
With almost 100 percent of Medicare Part A claim transactions being submitted electronically (and just over 96 percent of the Part B claims) using the Version 4010/4010A1 of healthcare standards, payers and providers must implement, test and transition to the 5010 Version transaction to be compliant with HIPAA no later than January 1, 2012.