A recent study by Price WaterhouseCoopers assessed the impact of the BBA cuts on the HME industry. It concludes that while each of the companies surveyed was earning a positive net income prior to the BBA in 1996, two-thirds of the providers were losing money, bankrupt or out of existence three years later. This decline occurred during a period in which U.S. corporate profits rose by 18 percent. Connaughton stressed to Congress members that a full CPI update is essential if the HME industry is to continue to provide a vital, cost-effective service to Medicare beneficiaries. On Thursday, legislation was introduced on the floor of Congress that would make public a federal database that tracks the malpractice and disciplinary records of the nation's physicians and other health care providers, as reported in Health24News .
Patients have the fundamental right to information about their doctors.
A public database of health care providers' records would enable individuals to do research before choosing a physician or other provider. Modeled after a Massachusetts physician database, Bliley's proposal would put on an Internet site any judgments or disciplinary actions taken by the health care workers' state medical board. The databank would also add additional information about criminal convictions, hospital disciplinary actions, Medicare and Medicaid exclusions. No date has been set for the full Congress to take up the matter. The report finds that managed health care plans have made great strides as they continue to work with their members, and with physicians, to improve the quality and affordability of health care for consumers.