News & Updates April 13, 2015
House Passes Bill To Fix Medicare’s Doctor Payments. What’s In It?
The troubled payment formula for Medicare physicians is one step closer to repeal. The House Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation to scrap Medicare’s troubled physician payment formula, just days before a March 31 deadline when doctors who treat Medicare patients will see a 21 percent payment cut. Senate action could come this week as well, but probably not until the chamber completes a lengthy series of votes on the GOP’s fiscal 2016 budget package.
Ohio State College of Medicine Ranks 31 among medical schools
The annual U.S.News & World Report “America’s Best Graduate Schools” list was released today. I’m pleased to share that the OSU College of Medicine was ranked 31st among all medical schools, up three spots from last year. This puts us as one of the 12 best public medical schools in the nation.
Is Medicine’s Gender Bias Killing Young Women?
A recent study suggests younger women who have heart attacks may hesitate to get help because they’re afraid of being labeled hypochondriacs. But the bigger problem is just how justified that fear really is.
POLITICS
Ohio Politics Now: Gov. John Kasich talks of heading to Iowa to test 2016 waters
A look at what is happening in Ohio politics and policy today: He sounded like a presidential candidate and those listening seemed to like him.
State considers delaying independent health-worker proposal
COLUMBUS Gov. John Kasich’s administration Friday said it’s open to delaying a proposal that has sparked hours of legislative testimony from people with disabilities who fear it could limit their choice in picking the workers who help them bathe, get dressed and tend to their basic needs at home.
House OKs ’heartbeat’ abortion ban; Senate fate dim
The Republican-controlled chamber approved the bill 55-40 in the third such vote in as many sessions.
East Cleveland mayor taking courageous step toward possible merger with Cleveland: Brent Larkin
CLEVELAND, Ohio — East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton has taken the first step towards the only thing that can save his city — a merger with Cleveland.
Ohio marijuana-legalization group begins collecting signatures for ballot issue
COLUMBUS, Ohio — ResponsibleOhio, one of the groups supporting legalization of marijuana in Ohio, started collecting signatures Wednesday with the goal of getting its issue before voters this fall.
SURGEONS
Northeast Ohio Doc, Patient Celebrate Life-Changing Kidney Transplant
Last year, right before Christmas, we profiled Mike Brown, a 31-year-old from Euclid waiting for a kidney transplant. Brown was hoping to get a new kidney much faster after an overhaul of the national waiting-list policies. Brown got his kidney, and ideastream’s Joanna Richards recently caught up with him.
Patients Often Aren’t Offered Minimally Invasive Surgery
It would be nice to think that when you go in for surgery you’d be offered the safest, cheapest alternative, but that’s not always the case, a study finds.
The startling rise of disability in America
Centerville, OH Cosmetic Surgeon Dr. William Rigano Helps Patients Improve Their Look with Advanced Facelift Procedures
Dr. William Rigano of Advanced Breast & Cosmetic Surgery provides advanced facelift procedure options for patients seeking to improve their look with a more youthful appearance
What We Learn When We Sequence the Genes of an Entire Nation
In a genetic milestone, researchers have amassed DNA data from an entire population of people. Here’s what we can learn from that information
Welcome to the March issue of The Surgeons’ Lounge. This issue features not one, but two guest experts! John Morgan Cosgrove, MD, FACS, attending surgeon, Eastern Long Island Hospital, Greenport, N.Y., discusses removal of foreign bodies in the foregut in the emergency room, and Jorge Ortiz, MD, associate professor, Department of Surgery, surgical director of Transplantation, University of Toledo, Ohio, addresses bariatric surgery in patients with renal failure.
EDUCATION
Ohio State Surgeons Implant Knee Cartilage Grown From Patient’s Own Cells
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Doctors at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are the first in Ohio to use a tissue implant made from a patient’s own cells to treat knee cartilage damage. Healthy cartilage is crucial to the smooth and painless mobility of most joints, and has limited capacity to repair itself after injury.
Match Day reveals destination for medical school grads (photos)
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Medical school graduates of Case Western Reserve Medical School and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine found out at noon today where they will be heading for the next stage in their medical training, residencies at medical centers across the country.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Case Western Reserve University has the state’s top medical and nursing schools in the latest graduate-school rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
Medical students publish second edition of Research Journal
The American Medical Student Research Journal, an international, student-driven journal started by LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine students, has released its second issue.
On National Match Day, held on Friday, March 20, fourth-year students in Northeast Ohio Medical University’s (NEOMED) College of Medicine learned where they will continue their medical training in residency programs following graduation.
$37M neuroscience building a draw for Dayton health care
Wright State University is close to finishing the $37 million Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration building it hopes will bring its research into a new era.
Wright State to host Orthopaedic Research and Innovation Symposium
Engineering and orthopaedic clinicians and researchers will gather at a Wright State University symposium to exchange ideas, foster innovation in orthopaedic devices and spur economic development.
HOSPITALS
Parma police accuse woman of using aliases at 8 northeast Ohio hospitals to obtain painkillers
PARMA, Ohio — A Middleburg Heights woman is accused of visiting at least eight area hospitals and using aliases to acquire prescription pills.
Constructing For Cancer: How Hospitals Are Meeting Increased Demand
Near the corner of Carnegie Avenue and 105th Street, the Cleveland Clinic’s new cancer center is under construction. It’s less than two miles away from University Hospital’s Siedman Cancer Center, which opened four years ago. It’s all part of preparing for a growing number of patients. ideastream’s Sarah Jane Tribble reports….
TRAUMA
Level 1 Trauma Centers and Surgical Residents
Dr. John Green, director of general surgery residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, talks about staffing challenges and resident training at a Level 1 trauma center. He also discusses a NSQIP study on resident hours and new way of evaluating surgical residents.
RURAL
Akron General launches effort to save rural heart attack victims
Akron General Health System is launching an effort to help rural residents get quicker access to life-saving medical care for a deadly type of heart attack.
Teaching Health Center program may live to ‘fight another day’
The House bill that would repeal Medicare’s sustainable-growth rate formula for paying physicians would also keep alive a popular graduate medical education program for at least two more years.
TELEMEDICINE
Is Ohio about to be a model for federal telemedicine reimbursement?
The time for telemedicine reimbursement in our country is now. Telemedicine has gone beyond just being a solution for rural consumers who cannot access medical care. It has continually been shown to improve access to care in urban, suburban and rural areas. It also reduces emergency department and urgent care visits, and gives consumers a convenient alternative during business hours and after.
ADVANCING STROKE CARE THROUGH TELEMEDICINE AT SUMMA HEALTH SYSTEM
Akron, OH – When someone suffers a stroke, every second counts. Beginning this April, Summa Health System will offer the latest in robotic technology and telemedicine services that will not only shorten the critical treatment time period, but also provide patients with access to an expanded team of highly skilled neurologists and improved patient care.
MALPRACTICE
Ohio man cites Huntington surgeon for negligence
HUNTINGTON – An Ohio man is suing a Huntington surgeon he claims was negligent during surgery and caused him injuries.
Ohio State pays $800,000 to settle malpractice suit
The Ohio State University Medical Center is paying $800,000 to a Westerville woman to settle a medical malpractice lawsuit. The settlement between Becky Colcord and OSU was approved Friday by Ohio Court of Claims Judge Patrick McGrath.