New Laws Arrive Next Month to Help Patients, Doctors
New laws take effect on Sept. 1 that will help patients and physicians across Texas.
Red-Tape Reduction
* Widespread reductions in medical practice red tape, including development of a uniform prior-authorization form to be used by all health insurance payers in 2015 for prescription drugs and for medical procedures. This will simplify and speed up the delivery of care to patients, because doctors’ offices will have to process just one form instead of shuffling through nearly 50 forms just for one health plan. Doctors’ offices spend an average of more than $80,000 per year shuffling insurance paperwork.
* Implementation of a new law that allows patients to check in at their doctor's office by swiping their Texas driver license for information like their name and address, meaning fewer forms for patients to complete and doctors’ offices to transcribe and process.
* Landmark regulation of third-party payers or “silent PPOs” that take physician-contracted discounts without doctors knowing about or agreeing to it.
More at http://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=27857 .