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Survey: Prior authorization remains a pain for a huge majority in healthcare

Scott E. Rupp Healthcare Administration

A consensus has been reached in healthcare, and the crescendo of hatred for prior authorization is clear. Medical practice professionals are sick of the red tape associated with the practice of getting the OK from an insurer regarding a proposed course of treatment for a perhaps-stricken patient. The opposition's angst for the process is overwhelming. According to a Medical Group Management Association survey, medical practice leaders say they are frustrated with "red tape and reporting requirements." Eighty-six percent say regulatory burdens increased in the past 12 months.

Survey: Healthcare costs rise at greater pace than workers’ wages

Seth Sandronsky Medical & Allied Healthcare

There is a reason that healthcare is so contentious in the Democratic Party’s presidential debates this year. "The single biggest issue in healthcare for most Americans is that their health costs are growing much faster than their wages are," Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) President and CEO Drew Altman said in the group’s Employer Health Benefits Survey. While the rate of unemployment is at a 50-year low, the amount of money that "employers and workers pay toward premiums continues to rise more quickly than workers’ wages and inflation over time," the survey found.

The blame game surrounding Boeing’s 737 Max debacle

Michelle R. Matisons Transportation Technology & Automotive

Oct. 29 marked one year since the Lion Air crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 that killed 189 people in Indonesia. We can directly blame a company’s financial priorities, company employees who decided to leave information out of training manuals, an agency that watched its inspection autonomy wither over decades, or investors pressuring Boeing to compete with France’s Airbus. Or, we can blame all of the above. The international public and crash victims’ families have initiated investigations, released a report, and are pursuing legal action. But will safety concerns trickle down to real-world changes?

How do you know when you’re done for the day?

Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management

As seems common in many conferences lately, the audience was asked to participate in a brief group mindfulness exercise. After we all adjusted our postures and closed our eyes, the facilitator asked us to take a deep breath and, while exhaling, acknowledge that we were done for the day, free to let our minds go and… something. I do not know what the last thing she said was, because I could not get past the phrase: done for the day. It was 4:30, how could anyone possibly be done for the day?

Can Elizabeth Warren’s education plan finally end segregation in…

Patrick Gleeson Education

One of the more disappointing failures in U.S. K-12 education has been the attempt to end segregation in U.S. classrooms. As I pointed out in an earlier article on this touchy subject, the end of segregated classrooms, seemingly promised more than 60 years ago in the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, never came close to being fulfilled. In reality, the degree of segregation in 2019 is about the same as it was in the 1960s. Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has a radical plan to change that. Whether it will help or hurt her candidacy remains to be seen, but it is a radical policy change even for Democrats.

Tackling the fear of financial aid

Sweety Patel Education

"I’m not going to help with the FAFSA, I will refer the student somewhere else, I am not touching that parent’s tax info." These are common thoughts in many school counseling departments, not out of task avoidance or malice, but simply out of fear. Many school counselors often do not want to get involved with assisting students directly with the FAFSA. They may also think that the family’s income information is not information that the school counselor is privy to. However, financial aid is a facet in the life of high school counselors that comes up all year long.

Federal government urged to address disability bias in organ transplants

Chelsea Adams Medical & Allied Healthcare

In a new report to the president, the National Council on Disability acknowledged that people with disabilities are often barred from receiving organ transplants even though federal law and some states specifically prohibit it. "We live in a world where organ denials are based on disability, rather than suitability," said Neil Romano, chairman of the National Council on Disability. "Receiving an organ to save your life should never be jeopardized because of fears, myths and stereotypes about disability. Especially not with so many federal laws making that practice illegal."

Fair Pay to Play Act promises a better deal for the black college athlete

LeRon L. Barton Sports & Fitness

It is no secret that the black male has been the engine for collegiate sports for many decades now. African American athletes make up about 60% of all college football and college basketball teams. Football and basketball are the two revenue sports that dominate college sports. That dominance has created an incredible source of revenue for the biggest schools. As part of the podcast "Gangster Capitalism," a program dedicated to examining the college admissions scandal that has rocked the news this year, sports journalist Kevin Blackistone examined the racial overtones existing in the matter of high-level college sports.

Law enforcement officers increasingly receive advanced cybersecurity training

Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & Security

We are more vulnerable than ever to online fraud, scams, theft, and abuse. Stringent cybersecurity measures go hand in hand with increased law enforcement capabilities that are essential to safeguarding individuals and businesses. Departments across the country are signing up for advanced training sessions that teach officers how to investigate crimes involving advanced technologies, dismantle darknet marketplaces, and thwart cybercriminals.

Survey: Almost one-third of workers have left a job due to lack of flexible…

Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Flexible work used to be a “nice-to-have” benefit, but it is rapidly becoming a requirement for workers. In fact, according to a recent survey by FlexJobs, 30% of workers reported leaving a job because it did not offer flexible work options. The survey findings were not a revelation to Sara Sutton, founder and CEO of FlexJobs. "I wasn't necessarily surprised because so many of the people we help every day are in that exact situation — they're working in a job that lacks the flexible work options they need or want, so they're in search of a better way to work."

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