October 28th, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Chronic Disease, Diet and Exercise, Healthcare reform, Lifestyle, Personal Responsibility
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What we need is health reform, not health insurance reform. If we do nothing about health care inflation, we are all doomed. Every last one of us. Taking care of sick people is expensive. The only way to get rid of health care inflation is to stop spending money. At some point we will either have to
- decrease illness
- decrease treatment and/or
- decrease the cost of treatment
There are no alternatives. As an American which action plan would you rather see take hold? Realize that every cost action has a reaction. You can decrease disease by prevention. You can decrease treatment by bundling. And you can decrease the cost of treatment by making it more efficient or simply paying less until access becomes an issue. I am certain that keeping the financial stability of America will require all three. But the only one you as a patient have control over is #1. As a country, we can prevent 80% of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer by taking care of ourselves with lifestyle modification. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Happy Hospitalist*
October 27th, 2009 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Death, Flu, H1N1, Infectious Disease, Influenza, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Pregnancy, Risks, Vaccine
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Doctors are often compelled to make quick decisions in life threatening cases with only limited information. Unfortunately, pregnant women are now going to be put in the same situation.
The H1N1 flu has taken an extraordinary toll among pregnant women. A new vaccine is now available. Because of the nature of the emergency, there has not been time to do any long term studies of the vaccine. Yet pregnant women will need to make a decision as soon as possible on whether to be vaccinated. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
October 27th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, News
Tags: CNA, H1N1, Lawsuit, Nursing, Pandemic, Putting Patients First, Strike, Unions
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Only in the United States could a virus like H1N1 bring out the worst in medical politics and greed. We are facing a “pandemic” that requires coordination, communication and the best of medical practice. But what are we getting? Strikes, lawsuits and anything BUT putting patients first!
The strong nursing union, California Nurse Association (CNA), is taking this opportunity to call a strike on three large Catholic hospital chains (including 34 hospitals) throughout California and Nevada. The union bosses say the chief concerns are a lack of protective gear, improper isolation techniques and staffing that requires nurses to work (oh horrors!) 12 hour shifts during the flu crisis.
Although the nurses seem to want to walk out during a pandemic to “protect patients”, the nurses in New York and Washington also filed a lawsuit over the idea that they should be required to get the flu vaccine. You can’t have it both ways, nurses! You either want protection or you don’t. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
October 27th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, True Stories
Tags: Attorney, Costs, Emergency Medicine, Fees, Finance, Healthcare reform, Law Suits, medicaid, Medical Malpractice, Physicians
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I had an interesting visit with the husband of my niece last evening. He works as an ER doctor that is self-insured group of 60 physicians that cover the ER needs of four hospitals in Clark County near Las Vegas.
What is interesting is they are self-insured to save costs. As a group, then, they know how much per patient they must collect to assure liability care for every patient that comes to their emergency rooms.
That amount is $17 per patient per visit.
Guess how much their group receives for care they render to a Medicaid patient for a “level two” visit (minor problem: ear ache, sore throat, etc.)
Fourteen dollars per visit. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
October 26th, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News
Tags: GE, General Electric, Phone, Pocket, Radiology, Ultrasound
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As we wrote yesterday, GE released a handheld ultrasound system unlike any other. Yesterday, at a GE press conference in New York, we saw the device first hand and we brought a video back of a company rep demonstrating its use. At 3 inches wide, 5.3 inches long, and about an inch high, the device already has FDA and European approval. GE plans to first conduct a real world study of how the Vscan will be used by clinicians before releasing it to the general market. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
