May 17th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News
Tags: Backfire, Big Pharma, Business Dealings, Clarity, Congressional Democrats, Drive Down The Cost of Healthcare, Drug Makers, Eliminate Tests, Force Doctors, General Medicine, Healthcare Competition, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, High-Performing Medical Facilities, Hospital Costs, Informed Healthcare Consumer, Internal Medicine, Lawmakers, Low-Performing Hospitals, Lower Healthcare Costs, Manipulating Economics, Medical Device Companies, Medical Device Makers, More Clear, Pharmaceutical Companies, Pharmaceutical Industry, Politico, Reporting Outcomes, Reveal Business Negotiations, The Fiscal Times, Transparency In Healthcare, Transparent Healthcare System, Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality, Wisconsin Hospitals
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Congressional democrats want more transparency in healthcare, believing it would further drive down the cost of care, reports Politico.
Hoping to drive competition, some lawmakers are grumbling to force doctors to reveal business negotiations between them and drug and device makers. Opponents worry that manipulating economics would backfire. If everyone knows their competitor’s business, why bother negotiating lower prices?
But transparency worked for Wisconsin’s hospitals, not in business dealings but in reporting outcomes, reports The Fiscal Times. By voluntarily revealing clinical outcomes on the Web, the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality was able to spur low-performing hospitals to improve, high-performing facilities to eliminate tests that didn’t improve outcomes, and create an informed healthcare consumer with choices where to receive care.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
May 17th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
Tags: BMJ, British Medical Journal, Concierge Medicine, Disconnect With Patients, Doctor-Patient Connection, Dr. Victor Montori, Effective Treatment Programs For Patients, Emerging Medical Field, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Good Care, Internal Medicine, Lousy Care, Mayo Clinic Channel, Minimally Disruptive Medicine, Minimizing The Burden Of Treatment, Patient Care, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Practice Of Medicine, Primary Care, Provider Communication, YouTube
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I recently stumbled onto the “Minimally Disruptive Medicine” blog maintained by Dr. Victor Montori from the Mayo Clinic. I have to admit that the name caught my attention so I scoped it out.
According to Dr. Montori, “minimally disruptive medicine refers to the practice of medicine that seeks to design effective treatment programs for patients while minimizing the burden of treatment.” He describes this as an emerging field.
I have to admit that I was simultaneously puzzled and intrigued. After all, how is this different from the way good medicine is practiced? I, for one, like to think that I create individually-tailored programs that meet my patients’ needs while minimizing their treatment burden. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
May 17th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
Tags: "Yes" Culture, David Leonhardt, Diagnostics, Empowered Patients, Family Medicine, Free Choice, General Medicine, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Economics, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, Informed Decisions, Informed Healthcare Consumer, Internal Medicine, Medical Liability, Medical Malpractice, Medicare, More Control, New York Times, Overtesting, Primary Care, Risks vs. Benefits, Saying No To Patients, Significant Overuse, Try Anything, Unnecessary Medical Treatment, Unnecessary Testing
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Let’s face it, the best way to cut healthcare costs is to say “no.” That means denying unnecessary tests that most patients in the United States are accustomed to having.
The New York Times‘ David Leonhardt has the best take on this issue that I’ve read. He acknowledges the difficulty of telling the American public “no,” and cites examples ranging from the breast cancer screening controversy to the managed care backlash in the 1990s:
This try-anything-and-everything instinct is ingrained in our culture, and it has some big benefits. But it also has big downsides, including the side effects and risks that come with unnecessary treatment. Consider that a recent study found that 15,000 people were projected to die eventually from the radiation they received from CT scans given in just a single year — and that there was “significant overuse” of such scans. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
May 16th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Angry Patient, Doctor, Doctor-Patient Communication, Doctor-Patient Connection, Doctor-Patient Responsibility, Family Medicine, General Medicine, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Hyperlipidemia, Hypertension, Internal Medicine, Medication Refills, Non-Compliant, Patient Upset, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Physician, Prescriptions Filled, Primary Care, Routine Lab Tests, Routine Office Visit, Vitals, Worth It
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I saw the note on the patient’s chart before I opened the door: “Patient is upset that he had to come in.”
I opened the door and was greeted by a gentleman with his arms crossed tightly across his chest and a stern expression. I barely recognized him, having only seen him a handful of times over the past few years. Scrawled on the patient history sheet in the space for the reason for his visit were the words, “Because I was forced to come in.”
My stomach churned. I opened his chart and looked at his problem list, which included high blood pressure and high cholesterol –- both treated with medications. He was last in my office in November — of 2008. I blinked, looked up at his scowling face, and frowned back. ”You haven’t been in the office for over 18 months. It was really time for you to come in,” I said, trying to remain calm as I spoke.
He sat for a moment, then responded with very little emotion. “I’m doing fine. You could’ve just ordered my labs and called in my prescriptions. I don’t know why I had to be seen.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
May 16th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Addiction Therapy, Anxiety, Cravings, Internet, Internet Addiction, media, Microsoft, Online, Psychology, Social Links, Technology, University of Maryland, withdrawal, World Wide Web
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Internet addiction is becoming a major problem, and it’s less and less surprising when reports focusing on this issue are being published. Lately, the New York Times came up with the analysis of a recent study:
Researchers at the University of Maryland who asked 200 students to give up all media for one full day found that after 24 hours many showed signs of withdrawal, craving and anxiety along with an inability to function well without their media and social links.
Susan Moeller, the study’s project director and a journalism professor at the university, said many students wrote about how they hated losing their media connections, which some equated to going without friends and family.
I did some research and browsed the website of Microsoft’s Internet Addiction Recovery Program. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
