Best Practices

A magnetic therapy for depression gains precision

Approved over a decade ago, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is moderately effective. Tailoring the treatment to individual brains may improve results. In the mid-1970s, a British researcher named Anthony Barker wanted to measure the speed at which electrical signals travel down the long, slender nerves that can carry signals from the brain to muscles like those in the hand, triggering...

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Top 3 ways your laboratory is giving away free testing without knowing it

Whether a clinical laboratory is a start-up or has been in business for years it is likely that giving away free testing is occurring without owners and operators even knowing it. Successful, established labs are even more susceptible, as high-volume claims can actually mask losses. However, over time, hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake and any dip in claims volume can create an...

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I Set Out to Create a Simple Map for How to Appeal Your Insurance Denial. Instead, I Found a Mind-Boggling Labyrinth.

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series - Uncovered:How the Insurance Industry Denies Coverage to Patients Health insurers reject millions of claims for treatment every year in America. Corporate insiders, recordings and internal emails expose the system and its harm. Have you ever...

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Doctors and Patients Try to Shame Insurers Online to Reverse Prior Authorization Denials

Sally Nix was furious when her health insurance company refused to pay for the infusions she needs to ease her chronic pain and fatigue. Nix has struggled with a combination of autoimmune diseases since 2011. Brain and spinal surgeries didn’t ease her symptoms. Nothing worked, she said, until she started intravenous immunoglobulin infusions late last year. Commonly called IVIG, the treatment...

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Doctors Sue California Regulators over Mandatory Implicit Bias Training for Physicians

A federal lawsuit filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) on August 1 argues the state of California is violating the free speech rights of doctors by mandating that they include “implicit bias” training in their continuing medical education (CME) courses. CME courses are a standard professional development practice that can cover a wide range of topics relating to medical care. The purpose...

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A Year With 988: What Worked? What Challenges Lie Ahead?

The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s 988 hotline marked its one-year milestone this month. Mental health experts say the three-digit number made help more accessible than before. The hotline was designed with the idea that people experiencing emotional distress are more comfortable reaching out for help from trained counselors than from police and other first responders through 911. Since the...

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