Minnesota Physician May 2014 by Minnesota Physician Publishing

MNsure Exceeds Goal for 2014 Entrollment More than 169,200 Minnesotans signed up for health insurance through MNsure as of midnight March 31, the end of the 2014 open enrollment period. The final number exceeded the exchange’s enrollment goal by about 35,000, according to state officials. Among the enrollees, about 47,000 signed up for private health insurance, 34,200 enrolled in MinnesotaCare, and nearly 88,000 registered for Medical Assistance. MNsure officials have said they are in the process of determining how many of Minnesota’s 400,000 previously uninsured citizens are now covered through the exchange. About 25 percent of enrollees are Minnesotans age 19 to 34, a group specifically targeted by MNsure. “We had significant concerns about not getting some of those younger folks,” said Julie Brunner, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans. “I’m pleased that the distribution is as wide as it is.” Scott Leitz, interim CEO of MNsure, noted that enrollment numbers will continue to rise as more than 36,000 people who began the process on the exchange’s website by the deadline complete enrollment. “I want to emphasize that we will be reaching out to those consumers who made attempts to enroll and were unsuccessful as late as 11:59 [p.m., March 31], provided they completed the online enrollment attempt form or we can otherwise see them in the MNsure system,” Leitz said. In addition, those eligible for the Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare programs; members of Native American tribes; smallbusiness owners; and people who experience a change in jobs or marital status, or the birth of a child, may continue to enroll past the March 31 deadline. “MNsure has made major improvements in its functionality and customer service during the past three months,” said Gov. Mark Dayton. “More work lies ahead to continue those improvements. However, MNsure has now demonstrated its capacity to improve the lives of many thousands of Minnesotans

by offering them access to better health care at more affordable costs.”

Neurosurgical Patient Monitoring Program Gets Accreditation Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s program to monitor neurosurgical patients has received accreditation from the Neurophysiologic Intraoperative Monitoring Laboratory Accreditation Board of the American Board of Registration of Electroencephalographic and Evoked Potential Technologists (ABRET). The hospital has one of 17 such accredited programs in the nation and the only one in Minnesota. “If you have the opportunity to use intraoperative monitoring in specific situations, it is one more safety measure to alert the surgeon for the risk potential of neurological deficits during surgery,” said Abbott surgeon Mahmoud Nagib, MD. Before surgery, technologists tape half-inch needle electrodes on a patient’s body, just under the skin. A technologist and physician monitor the patient’s nervous system during the procedure and advise the surgeon if readings change, to help protect motor and sensory pathways. Abbott uses this intraoperative monitoring in about 30 percent of all neurosurgery and orthopedic spine surgeries. Typically, the surgeon determines if it will be used. “Patients can advocate for it. If they’re having surgery, they should ask their surgeons about the risks and whether their nerves should be monitored,” said Abbott neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist Stanley Skinner, MD.

Federal Medicare Payment Data Released Federal data for 2012 Medicare payments to physicians were released to the general public in April. The numbers are causing some concern, as the data can be potentially misleading when viewed without the News to page 6

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