Health Beat: UAMS’ Northwest Arkansas Residency Program Receives Accreditation

Editor’s note: Each Wednesday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Health Beat,” a round-up of health-related topics in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here.

UAMS’ NWA RESIDENCY PROGRAM RECEIVES ACCREDITATION: The The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) received accreditation Sept. 23 for an internal medicine residency program at its Northwest Arkansas campus in Fayetteville from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

The first eight resident physicians will arrive in July 2016 to serve their residencies at Mercy Health System Northwest Arkansas in Rogers and at the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville. The postgraduate program will admit eight physicians annually for a three-year specialized residency. In addition, the residents will see patients at a new UAMS Northwest Campus outpatient clinic opening for the program next year.

UAMS already has 30 family medicine and two psychiatry resident physicians in the region. The regional campus also has 201 students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and the allied health professions — including the first 24 students in the physical therapy program that started classes in August.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS FOR HEALTH BENEFITS PLANS FORECASTED TO SKYROCKET IN 2016: Health benefit plan cost trend rates for 2016 will increase for most medical plan options and increase substantially for prescription drug coverage by near double-digit rates, according to forecasts compiled in the 2016 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey.

According to the survey, price inflation for prescription drugs and hospital stays are the overwhelming driver of cost increases, especially for prescription drugs, where the trend is approaching double digits (9.8%), well above the current Consumer Price Index for all goods and services (0.1%).

This survey includes data from managed care organizations, health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and third-party administrators. For complete survey results, click here.

ARKANSAS BLUE CROSS EXEC NAMED CHAIRMAN OF PRIVATELY HELD KANSAS CITY HEALTHCARE FIRM: The Board of Managers of Kansas City, Mo.-based New Directions Behavioral Health recently announced the election of Jim Bailey, chief marketing officer at Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, to the position of board chairman of the privately-owned healthcare company. With 35 years at Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Bailey currently leads all sales and marketing divisions and is active in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield system nationally. New Directions provides managed behavioral health care services, employee assistance programs (EAPs), organizational consulting and health coaching to large regional health plans, Fortune 100 companies, employers and labor groups.

HHS AWARDS $685 MILLION TO SUPPORT PATIENT-CENTERED, REGIONAL HEALTH CARE: The U.S. Department Health and Human Services on Tuesday (Sept. 29) announced $685 million in awards to 39 national and regional health care networks and supporting organizations to help equip more than 140,000 clinicians. The Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative is one of the largest federal investments designed to support doctors and other clinicians in all 50 states through collaborative and peer-based learning networks. HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell released the awards in conjunction with a roundtable discussion with members of Congress and health care leaders on the transformation taking place in healthcare.

FTC RETURNS $1.1 MILLION TO CONSUMERS SWINDLED IN HEALTH INSURANCE SCAM: The Federal Trade Commission is mailing 6,832 checks totaling more than $1.1 million to consumers who lost money due to a health insurance scam. In 2012, the FTC charged the Independent Association of Businesses (IAB) and Health Service Providers (HSP) defendants with violating the FTC Act and the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule by deceiving consumers seeking comprehensive health insurance.

Instead of health coverage, consumers received membership in IAB, an obscure trade association that provided purported discounts on services such as identity-theft protection, travel, and roadside assistance, and some healthcare related benefits that were subject to broad exclusions and limitations. Under settlement orders issued in 2013 and 2014, the defendants are further banned from selling healthcare-related products.