Maria Frisch
Articles by Maria Frisch
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New Medicaid program seeks to foster innovation
Tuesday, August 05, 2014The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced the Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program, a group of technical assistance tools. The aim of this program is to improve the health of Medicaid beneficiaries, thereby supporting the Triple Aim, and reducing overall costs for the Medicaid program.
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Using EMR databases to conduct clinical research
Wednesday, July 16, 2014Electronic medical records contain enormous amounts of information that could be used in clinical research and quality improvement. However, ethical concerns — such as patient consent and minimization of reidentification — abound.
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Making the case for state Medicaid expansion
Thursday, June 19, 2014Medicaid is a joint federal- and state-funded program that provides healthcare for more than 60 million low-income Americans. As a result of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid was expanded to cover people from 19 to 65 years old with incomes of no more than 138 percent of the federal poverty level. This is equal to an annual salary of about $31,809 for a family of four and $15,414 for a single person.
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ICD-10: Everything you need to know
Monday, June 16, 2014ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification and coding system. The compliance deadline for ICD-10 is Oct. 1, 2015.
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Medicare home healthcare reform may harm complex patients
Wednesday, June 11, 2014The Affordable Care Act, or ACA for short, set out to improve healthcare quality, access, costs and spending. One part of this law mandated an update to Medicare's home health payment system, so that costs better reflected actual cost and utilization rates; previous payments were based on formulations established in 2000.
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Cybersecurity: How to navigate threats in your healthcare organization
Wednesday, May 28, 2014The network is down. Someone from accounting just spammed the entire practice. An outsider gains access to protected health information within electronic health records. Someone erases critical operational data.
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The ER doctor in your living room
Wednesday, December 11, 2013Virtual ERs benefit hospital-based locations by screening and treating low-urgency and common medical problems. This frees up both staff time and resources to focus on high-urgency, major medical concerns. For this reason, some local ERs have started to offer their own virtual service.
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Cannabidiol: Medical miracle or shameful street drug?
Monday, December 02, 2013On Aug. 11, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, led the premier of a one-hour documentary on medical marijuana. This event reignited many discussions on the topic of medical marijuana and shed some light on the changing politics surrounding this drug. Riding on the coat tails of this story is the recent announcement that GW Pharmaceuticals received U.S. Food and Drug Administration orphan drug designation for Epidiolex, a drug that touts cannabidiol as its active ingredient.
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Conversion disorder or misdiagnosis in the ED?
Friday, November 01, 2013Conversion disorder presents as a physical disorder, but is instead thought to be a manifestation of underlying psychological conflict or need. The American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition" (DSM-5) classifies conversion disorder as one of the somatic symptom and related disorders. Formerly, the DSM-IV-TR categorized the disorder as simply a somatoform disorder.
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From uninsured to covered: PAs at the forefront of the ACA
Friday, October 25, 2013In September, the U.S. Census reported rates of uninsured during 2012. A reported 15.4 percent (48 million) of people were uninsured, down from 15.7 percent in 2011. Medicare covered 15.7 percent of the population in 2012, compared with 15.2 percent in 2011. Since 1999, the proportion of people insured through private insurance has declined, while the proportion of those insured through public insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, state programs, etc.) has risen, from 24.2 to 32.6. This has added significant burden to an already over-extended government.
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Environmental factors mediate negative attributes attributed to TBI
Tuesday, October 15, 2013It is widely accepted that traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in significant impairment to cognitive, motor and emotional functioning. Environmental factors, such as intensive engagement in cognitive, emotional, physical and psychosocial endeavors, may help to offset this impairment.
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The importance of social support in organ transplantation outcomes
Tuesday, October 15, 2013Epidemiological studies have linked poor social support to negative health outcomes and higher mortality rates across a multitude of medical conditions. Social support appears to result in more positive biological profiles, and recent research on immune-mediated inflammatory processes shows how integrative physiological mechanisms directly link social support to physical health.
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Acquired savant syndrome: A positive side to brain injury?
Tuesday, October 01, 2013Savant syndrome is a rare condition in which a person exhibits genius-level ability, such as photographic memory, artistic brilliance or exceptional mathematical skill — in the face of a cognitive handicap.
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Emergency medical equipment donations in developing countries
Monday, September 30, 2013In the summer of 2012, I served in rural areas of Kenya, working with AMREF Flying Doctors to bring medical interventions to communities in need. To say this was a humbling experience would be an understatement. We flew by helicopter into areas not accessible by vehicle in order to assess community medical infrastructure and to aid in the design and provision of emergency medical management protocols.
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Physician assistants and interprofessional education
Tuesday, September 17, 2013Physician Assistants go on to work in a variety of settings – many of which demand an ability to work with diverse sets of professionals. Those who engage in research will discover a culture of funding that necessitates working with an interdisciplinary group of professionals who bring different perspectives and approaches to a problem. Few physician assistants find a career path that limits their professional interactions to only other physician assistants.