August 26th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News, Research
No Comments »
An eye-popping statistic shows that 94 percent of doctors have adopted smartphones, in part to keep up with an information glut. A consulting group released results of 100 in-depth interviews with physicians working in acute and ambulatory care environments in numerous specialties nationwide. The physicians used the phones to communicate, manage personal/business workflows, and access information, including medical reference materials. (In case you’re curious about what your peers are using, 44 percent use an iPhone and 25 percent use a BlackBerry.)
This growth in adoption — a 60 percent increase since 2006 — isn’t surprising, since the same survey reported that doctors’ biggest challenges are communicating with colleagues in a timely manner, the volume of communications with patients and the entire care team, and the different platforms (e-mail, voice mail, pager, etc.) needed to keep up with it all.
But one early adopter, Dr. Rob Lamberts, ACP member, cautions that while the new technology can help, it isn’t yet.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
August 9th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
No Comments »
One of the more effective criticisms of the health reform law (Affordable Care Act, or ACA) is that it hurts Medicare. It also is wrong.
Effective, in that it has been widely reported that seniors are more likely to express negative views of the ACA than other age groups. (Although the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Drew Altman, citing the group’s most recent tracking polls, writes that seniors’ opposition to health reform “is at least somewhat over played.”)
Effective, but wrong: The ACA actually helps Medicare in three important ways. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
August 4th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
No Comments »
When I was a much younger man I had a 1968 Chevy Impala. I loved its V-8 engine and spaciousness, but I paid a steep price for it. It consumed gas like a drunk on a binge. It was prone to breakdowns, usually in the left lane of a busy highway. Even as it consumed my limited financial resources, I couldn’t count on it to reliably get me to where I wanted to be. Yet I held onto it. One day, though, its transmission gave out, and I finally had to resign myself to buying a new, more reliable, more modern, and efficient vehicle. Yet to this day, I miss my clunker.
I am reminded of this when I think about the state of primary care today. Many of us are attached to a traditional primary care model that may no longer be economically viable — for physicians, for patients, and for purchasers.
We hold onto a model where primary care doctors are paid based on the volume of visits, not the quality and value of care rendered. We hold onto a model where patient records are maintained in paper charts in voluminous file folders, instead of digitalizing and connecting patient records. We hold onto a model that generates enormous overhead costs for struggling physician-owners but generates insufficient revenue. We hold onto a model that most young doctors won’t buy, as they pursue more financially viable specialties and practices. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
July 26th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
No Comments »
Many conservatives are up-in-arms about President Obama’s decision to appoint Don Berwick, a pediatrician and renowned expert in quality improvement and patient safety, to lead the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). They object to Dr. Berwick’s views on a range of issues, and to Obama’s decision to use his office’s authority to appoint Dr. Berwick while the Senate was out on a short Independence Day holiday recess. As a “recess appointment,” Dr. Berwick was able to take office without Senate hearings and confirmation, but he can only serve through the end of the 111th Congress — that is, until the end of 2011 — unless ratified by the Senate.
Berwick, though, also has many supporters. Maggie Mahar articulates the “pro” viewpoint on Dr. Berwick’s appointment in a recent Health Beat post. She observes that two former CMS administrators who served in Republican administrations have commented positively about Dr. Berwick’s qualifications. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
July 19th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
No Comments »
One doesn’t usually look to the Federal Register to define meaning or purpose (philosophers, yes, but bureaucrats?), but the federal government has officially ruled on what constitutes “meaningful use” — for the purposes of distributing dollars to clinicians for electronic health records.
The Wall Street Journal’s health blog has an excellent synopsis of the rule and the reaction from different interest groups and experts, and the New England Journal of Medicine has a very clear explanation and summary of its key elements by David Blumenthal, M.D., F.A.C.P., the federal government’s coordinator of health information technology. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
