In an effort to reduce the overdoses and deaths from painkillers, state and federal governments are stepping up their efforts to regulate, or at least better inform, physicians who prescribe opioids. They aren't targeting just the "pill mills," those corrupt docs who loosely prescribe painkillers for big profits. No, they are trying to reduce drug abuse and drug mishandling by setting their sights on the ordinary physicians who stand on the front line between pain and prescriptions.

Now that all user-facing technology is going mobile, the demands of wireless networking and the demand for every provider to have an "mHealth" plan mean more infrastructure, more planning, and more cost when crafting a telemedicine strategy.

The portion of the ACA that the Supreme Court ruled on in June affects mainly patients and insurance companies, but the impact will trickle down to physicians-eventually. Someday, physicians will be compensated differently for the services they provide, will have a different and larger patient population, and will be subject to a growing number of performance metrics on which they and the hospitals at which they practice are reimbursed. In other words, the new law changes the game entirely.

Health insurer Humana has contracted with 21st Century Oncology, a large Florida-based physicians group, in what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind effort to bundle payments for radiation therapy services used to treat several common cancers. The physicians group will provide a defined set of treatments and procedures for a fixed price. If successful, the effort could serve as a blueprint to help shift the costs of complex and expensive radiation therapy services from volume-based, fee-for-service charges to evidence-based treatment.

The American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) has informed the House Ways and Means Committee that it supports the creation of a more permanent solution to Medicare funding challenges.