Two physicians organizations filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and its parent company over the insurer’s emergency room payment policy, calling it “dangerous.’’ The parent company, Indianapolis-based Anthem, has pursued a new policy over the past year in Georgia and five other states, reviewing customers’ ER visits and limiting or denying payment…
The term “virtual credit cards’’ sounds like some futuristic version of the typical plastic. But to many doctors, dentists, hospitals and other medical providers, it’s very much a part of their present day. And not always desirable. The Georgia General Assembly, in fact, took action on the virtual credit cards this year. Here’s how the…
The small South Georgia town of Plains currently has no practicing physician. But that’s about to change, thanks in part to advocacy from the town’s most famous resident. Former President Jimmy Carter’s efforts have helped lead Mercer University School of Medicine to open a primary clinic in the town next month, said the dean of…
Some health stories from Georgia are not particularly big or particularly new. But that doesn’t mean they’re not interesting. Here are a few things we think are worth noting, with illustrations to help you remember them. The founder with a big heart: James Oglethorpe’s concern for public health was one reason he founded the colony of…
Hospitals, like many other workplaces, have a tough time filling slots on the night shift. Few doctors and nurses want to work overnight hours, which are often inconvenient and can take a toll in fatigue and burnout. But in a novel way, Emory medical providers are addressing the problem. Through the technology of telehealth, the…
A new coating for medical devices that are inserted into the body could help prevent infections, according to researchers in the University of Georgia’s College of Engineering. They developed a technology called LINOREL — or liquid-infusing nitric oxide-releasing silicone — that can coat devices such as catheters and surgical tools that sometimes carry infections. “Hospitals…
The first four-year medical school established in South Georgia aims to address the primary care physician shortages in underserved areas of the state. The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine last week broke ground in Moultrie for its medical school there. PCOM already has a campus in suburban Atlanta, and it hopes to start admitting med…
Ed Scarborough worked as a sandblaster in the granite industry for 20 years, until his health gave out. He says he knew that getting into such a line of work was risky, but in Elberton, “there really isn’t much else.” He was born and raised in Elberton, a historic northeast Georgia town known as the…
The estimate of autism prevalence in U.S. children has slightly increased, to about 1 in 59, the CDC reported Thursday. The previous estimate, released in 2016, was that about 1 in 68 children in this country had autism spectrum disorder. Georgia – specifically five metro Atlanta counties — was one of 11 communities studied in the…
Just days after two lawsuits were filed to block a new hospital in Lee County, that legal opposition is already partially unraveling. The Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals — which confirmed Monday that it was suing a state agency for allowing a certificate of need for a hospital in the southwest Georgia county — said Tuesday that it had…