Coding for Medical Billing and Meals

Ah, the healthcare summit at Blair House… what can I say that hasn’t already been said? I skipped most of the 6 hours of political posturing and went straight to FactCheck for an analysis of talking points. But if the summit ended with a whimper, Kentucky’s Bunning brought the drama home to the Senate with his single-person filibuster of the legislation extending jobless benefits. Too bad a 21% cut in Medicare reimbursements to physicians was triggered as the result, but senators have signaled willingness to work on a temporary fix before the heads of primary care physicians begin exploding across the nation.

On a less catastrophic note, TechCrunch discusses the Apple (iPhone) vs. HTC (android) legal face off, while Dr. Gily provides an internet site for an ICD-9-CM search tool that will work on either platform. I’ve never used it, but other reviewers seem to think it’s not bad.

There’s much ado about snacking in the new issue of Health Affairs and across the media outlets this week. According to researchers, not only has unhealthy snacking increased among children substantially over the few decades, but it appears to be eroding the healthy calories children typically take in at mealtimes. Capitalizing on a plugged-in client base, Dr. Julie Kardos and Dr. Nadine Lai of Two Peds in a Pod provide a quick podcast about the “5-4-3-2-1-0” rules for healthy eating accessible to parents on the go.