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Top news of the day from across the healthcare landscape.
Retail health clinics may not be deterring patients with low-level conditions, such as bronchitis or urinary tract infection, from visiting the emergency department. Findings from a recent study suggest that clinics that are less than 10 minutes away may not be reducing the unnecessary utilization of the emergency department, according to Kaiser Health News. Reducing hospitalizations is an important aspect of driving down health care costs, which is something retail clinics were expected to accomplish.
A recent poll found that 21% of Americans want President-elect Donald Trump to address healthcare within his first 100 days in office, which was the top issue. Another 16% of Americans want him to address jobs when he enters office on January 20, 2017, according to The New York Times. Americans also indicated that immigration and race relations were something he should focus on.
A US Attorney has charged 2 Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Philidor Rx Services executives for a multimillion-dollar fraud and kickback scheme, The Wall Street Journal reported. Both Gary Tanner, former Valeant executive, and Andrew Davenport, former Philidor CEO, were charged yesterday with allegations that they sold Valeant’s high priced dermatology drugs to obtain high reimbursements and other financial incentives. Davenport allegedly paid Tanner $10 million in kickbacks over the course of the scheme.