Rick Matthews, a spokesman for Ferry Point Partners, said the $7 million and previous reimbursements fell short of what the company had spent.
In one case its pharmacists moved patients from a generic ulcer medication that came in tablets to the same medicine in capsule form, after reimbursements fell for the former but not the latter.
Yearly study hospital Medicaid reimbursements fell an average of $16,383 per patient.
But the physicians and hospitals say the reimbursements usually fall far short of full compensation for atrial ablation, which can take four hours or more to perform and requires an overnight stay at the hospital.
Tenet said its earnings were continuing to deteriorate, not only because its Medicare reimbursements had fallen but also because managed care companies were driving harder bargains, and expenses from patients not paying their bills were rising.
GLOBETROTTING business travelers expect their companies to repay all their expenses, but many reimbursements are falling short because employees are not accounting for the currency-conversion fees that most credit cards add to overseas transactions.
The Bush administration, along with allies in the Senate, has long protected these government contractors, defending the subsidy even as other health care providers (hospitals, doctors) have watched their reimbursement rates fall.
These aspects demonstrate, on the one hand, the need for adequate financial reimbursement if fall prevention strategies are to be implemented successfully in the GP setting and, on the other hand, the ongoing education of GPs with respect to the importance of fall prevention.
But reimbursement rates fell, and when doctors began correcting vision with lasers in the early 90's, Dr. Dello Russo's office was an early test site.
