August 27th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News
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California launched the nation’s largest tele-health network, a $30 million public/private project to bring broadband access designed to reduce the cost of followup care by 40 percent and overall costs by 6 percent. The network seeks to connect more than 800 California healthcare facilities, including rural, underserved, and Indian health facilities, to a statewide network of healthcare and emergency services. (Healthcare IT News)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
June 2nd, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research, True Stories
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How much is a primary care appointment worth? Not much, it appears.
Physicians in California decided to embark on an innovative idea, asking patients to simply pay them what they thought the visit was worth. Here’s how it worked:
On the day of the events, no insurance was accepted. Care was provided only to the uninsured, who were asked to pay what they could afford. Laboratory tests were provided at cost, and patients who needed additional services were referred to various public resources. Practices also handed out lists of generic medications available for reduced prices at large, discount pharmacies.
Physicians who accept Medicare are not allowed to include Medicare beneficiaries in any pay-what-you-can program.
Although patients did value the visit, they grossly underestimated its cost. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
January 25th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News
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California debuted new rules that specify patients in health maintenance organizations (HMO) see a doctor within 10 days of asking for an appointment. Calls must be return within a half-hour, and health professionals must be available 24/7. Urgent care must be seen in 48 hours.
Richard Frankenstein, FACP, former president of the California Medical Association, told the Los Angeles Times that this places pressure on the HMOs to have a big enough network to deliver what they promise. Critics contend this will force doctors to rush patient care even more, or be especially damaging to rural areas already facing a shortage. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
January 22nd, 2010 by Paul Auerbach, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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Even though its really cold outside in much of the U.S., it’s sunny in northern California and with a hooded sweatshirt, every day is a beach day! So, after a couple of nice days in the snowy mountains, I headed for the coast. On my first step onto the sand, I was reminded to write about a phenomenon that was called to my attention by a reader last April:
“Coast Guard Seeks Tar Source
By Janine Zúñiga
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
CORONADO — The Coast Guard is investigating the source of sticky tar balls that washed up on Coronado’s shores over the weekend. Emergency crews…worked amid bathing-suit-clad beach-goers, picking up pieces of tar that a city lifeguard first noticed Saturday afternoon. Read more »
This post, How To Get Tar Off Your Skin, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..
January 18th, 2010 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips
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The National Initiative for Children’s HealthCare Quality (NICHQ) has a website where you can find fact sheets about the state of children’s health in each state. The State Fact Sheets provide the most recent national and state-based data regarding health in addition to childhood overweight and obesity prevalence from data collected in 2007 by the National Survey of Children’s Health.
For overall health in California the (2007) fact sheet suggests that compared to national averages, children in CA are:
- less likely to be in excellent or good health; Read more »
This post, Children’s Health Fact Sheets: Californian Kids Not Doing Well, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
