April 12th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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States are varying in their reactions to healthcare reform:
— Wisconsin is creating an office of healthcare reform to develop its health insurance exchange and explain changes to constituents.
— Tennessee won a court ruling to remove 100,000 from its Medicaid rolls.
— Leaders in 18 states vow to challenge the new law in court. But in Idaho, a challenger for the governor’s office proposes instead taking advantage of a federal waiver that exempts states that enact reforms that control costs and improve access better than the federal laws do. (Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, Kaiser Health News, Reuters, Idaho Reporter)
At the federal level, President Obama and supporters continue to try to sell the reforms to Americans while the opposition tries to figure out its next steps. “Soak the rich” might be one phrase to revive, but they’d do best to distance themselves from the tea-baggers, who have spiraled out of control. (The Hill, Los Angeles Times, USA Today)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
April 7th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays
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With the prospect of 32 million new patients clamoring for care comes sorting out who will see them all. New medical schools are opening and students say they relish the idea of entering a market that will demand their services. American College of Physicians member Manoj Jain, M.D., offers a more tempered view of how the fallout might affect primary care. (AP, American Medical News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Memphis Commercial Appeal)
Even Hawaii has a shortage, especially in primary care, but also cardiology and orthopedic surgery. It’s hard to believe recruiters couldn’t sell Hawaii as a destination. (Honolulu Advertiser)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 31st, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Primary Care Wednesdays, True Stories
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Congress controls the nation’s purse strings. It can tell the Executive Branch how to spend money. It can regulate all commerce, and by the way, to Congress everything is “commerce.”
Congressional legislation can incent economic behavior–pay for this, but not for that–but it can’t change personal decisions. A case in point is Dr. Robert Cantor, ACP Member, of Boca Raton, Fla., who says he authorizes the tests that his patients demand. His opinion? “I do the damn test.”
He says there’s little incentive not to order tests and little in healthcare reform to make him and others change their habits. More likely is the idea that, once new medical technology is invented, it will find a use.
Another article compiles a wide spectrum of ideas on how to reduce healthcare spending. Tort reform was one, sure, but many doctors focused on changing patient behavior first.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 27th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor, News
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Count the pens. News reports said that the president signed healthcare reform into law with either 20 (The New York Times) or 22 pens (Everyone else). The White House posted the ceremony on YouTube so you can count for yourself, starting at 25 minutes into the 27-minute ceremony, when Mr. Obama quips: “This is going to take a little while.”
The pens hits the page 22 times. But there’s only 11 letters in “Barack Obama” (add seven more for his middle name), so he’s clearly having to sign partial letters.
There’s a long history to this practice, which creates historical artifacts and gifts. President Kennedy used his middle name and flourishes to stretch things out. President Lyndon Johnson used 75 pens to sign the Civil Rights Act, with one of the first going to Martin Luther King, Jr., and then key legislators. Here’s a list of who’ll get the 22 pens. (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Washington Post)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 9th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News
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Doctors at the University of Florida invented a device that sniffs employees’ hands for soap residue to check whether they’ve washed them enough.
After employees wash their hands, they pass them under the sniffer and their badge activates. When they later approach a patient, a bed-side monitor reads the badge and flashes green if the person has clean hands. If the person didn’t wash or too much time has passed since they have, the badge vibrates to remind the employee.
We’d already covered bathing hands with plasma instead of soap. Don’t get those near the sniffer.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
