Medical law annual check-up for 2008

As I watch my son, Brett, turn one, it seems truly amazing to me how much can happen in such a short time – not to mention how quickly a year goes by.

Needless to say, it has been a busy year for me at home. And if you’ve been reading Massachusetts Medical Law Report, I don’t need to tell you it’s also been a busy year in medical-legal news.

This year, we’ve chronicled the debate over health courts, concerns about rising identity theft in health care and the impact of union campaigns making their way into Massachusetts hospitals.

With another year of publication behind us, it seems like the right time to take a look forward at what else MMLR will be watching in 2008.

Here’s our preview:

• Physician ranking systems

Of course, we’ve been talking about the Group Insurance Commission’s system of ranking individual physicians for a while now. Just last week, Blue Cross Blue Shield decided not to bid for the right to offer health insurance to public employees through GIC because it disagrees with their system. Will other health plans follow suit? Will the GIC system be revised to reflect the physician-approved standards set by the New York Attorney General?

• Electronic medical records

Massachusetts has been touted as a national leader in electronic medical records, but officials speaking at a health technology conference as I write this say the pilot program money is about to run out. Will the Legislature decide to provide funding?

• Minute clinics

The Department of Public Health is in the final stages of its regulations on minute clinics. What will the regs mean for physicians?

• Health care fraud

The Office of Inspector General has already laid out its plans for rooting out health care fraud among physicians and other providers in 2008. What will the government look for in your billing? See our story on page 3.

• Legal actions in the fight against obesity

Cases over how far the government can go in banning certain foods and requiring nutritional standards are percolating. Will we see answers in 2008?

As usual, we will be talking to top attorneys, physicians and other key players in each area to get a sense of the real issues. We certainly can’t promise to resolve everything in these pages, but we hope we can guide you as you think through them.

Each quarter, we dedicate our Good Medicine section specifically to the current issues doctors are discussing. But when it comes down to it, we hope our entire publication focuses on what doctors – and the lawyers who advise them – are dealing with in offices, hospitals and beyond.

Happy New Year to you and your families. We look forward to hearing from you on these topics – and those yet to arise – in 2008.

– Reni Gertner, MPH