December 3rd, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: ACP Advocate, American College Of Physicians, Bob Doherty, Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services, CMS, Cutting Healthcare Costs, Ezra Klein, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Politics, Healthcare reform, Healthcare spending, Medical Education, Medical Liability, Medicare Payments, Medicare Reimbursement, Medicare SGR Cut, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Physician Payment System, Pilot Programs, PPACA, Primary Care Incentive Program, Teaching Hospitals, Washington Post
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In assessing the “best and worst” of the recommendations from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein accuses the Commission of “cowardice” in addressing healthcare spending:
“The plan’s healthcare savings largely consist of hoping the cost controls . . . and various demonstration projects in the new healthcare law work and expanding their power and reach. . . In the event that more savings are needed, they throw out a grab bag of liberal and conservative policies . . . but don’t really put their weight behind any. . .[their] decision to hide from the big questions here is quite disappointing . . . ”
Pretty harsh words, considering that in other respects Klein gives the Commission high marks. But I think there is a lot more to the Commission’s recommendations on healthcare spending than meet’s (Klein’s) eyes, even though I have my own doubts about the advisability and political acceptability of many of them. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
December 3rd, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: 33 Charts, Anatomy, Apple, Doctors, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, How Medicine Has Changed, How Medicine Won't Change, iPad, Medical Schools, Medical Students, Medical Technology, Medical Training, Medicine and Change, The Practice of Medicine
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I just can’t imagine life today as a medical student. Every medical publication in the palm of your hand. The capacity to create an audience and publish at your own will. Real-time dialog between students, faculty, anyone. Global reach from your phone. It’s mind-boggling really.
This is in stark contrast to my experience. My world was centered on index cards, textbooks and pens with different colors. We communicated via Post-it notes on the door of the student lounge. There were no apps and our only game was foozball. As a first year I scheduled time to compose H&Ps on the library’s only Macintosh II computer. This was plugged into the new Apple LaserWriter with WYSIWYG. Hi tech we were. We thought.
Being distractible and restless, I’m going to guess that if I had access to the communication platforms and tools available to today’s students, I might not have made it through. The inputs must be staggering and I imagine that discipline with personal bandwidth has become a critical key to survival. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
December 3rd, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Cambridge Consultants, Consistent Drug Dose, Deep-Lung Drug Delivery, Dry Powder Inhaler, Inhaled Drugs, Inhaling Medications, Medgadget, Pharmacology, Pulmonology, SPARC, Strength Of Breath, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company
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Cambridge Consultants and India’s Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) have developed a new dry powder inhaler. According to the companies, the device delivers an even, consistent drug dose deep into the lungs regardless of how strong the inhalation is performed by the patient.
From the press release:
The device employs a novel de-agglomeration engine to separate the drug from the lactose ‘carrier’ particles. Based on a highly efficient airway design, the patented drug separation mechanism has successfully completed clinical trials and demonstrated that it is capable of delivering significantly more of the drug to the deep lung than traditional inhalers. In practice, this will minimise side effects from drug build-up in the back of the throat, reduce non-systemic load and wastage, and means almost 50% less active drug needs pre-loading into the device in comparison to a standard inhaler. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 3rd, 2010 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
Tags: Changing Patient Behavior, Doctor-Patient Communication, Empowering Patients, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Mind The Gap, Patient Empowerment, Patient-Centered Care, Physician Recommendations, Physician-Centric Directives, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Primary Care, Screening Tests, Shared Decision-Making, Steven Wilkins MPH, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, USPSTF
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“I recommend.” These are two word which, when spoken by a physician to a patient have tremendous power to change behavior. That assumes of course a trusting relationship between patient and physician (but that’s a topic for another day.)
Take the colonoscopy. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that adults aged ≥50 years get a colonoscopy every 10 years. In 2005, 50 percent of adults aged ≥50 years in the U.S. had been screened according to these recommendations. Not surprisingly, the rate of colonoscopy screening is much lower than that of other recommended adult preventive services. I was curious: Why?
Here are two interesting facts:
1. Studies show that patients cite “physician recommendation” as the most important motivator of colorectal screening. In one study, 75 to 90 percent of patients who had not had a colonoscopy, said that their doctor’s recommendation would motivate them to undergo screening.
2. In that same study, in 50 percent of patients where a colonoscopy was appropriate but not done, the reason given was that the physician simply did not “bring up” the subject during the visit. Reasons included lack of time, visit was for acute problem, patient had previously declined or forget. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
December 3rd, 2010 by Linda Burke-Galloway, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News
Tags: Bart Stupak, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway, Essential Health Benefit, Health Insurance Coverage, Henry Waxman, Individual Healthcare Policies, Los Angeles Times, Maternal-Child Health, Maternity Care, Michelle Andrews, OB/GYN, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Pre-existing Condition, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1987, Pregnant Women, Women's Health
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Women who own individual healthcare policies, please take note. Should you become pregnant in the future, your individual healthcare policy might not cover your pregnancy.
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times by Michelle Andrews was revealing. Andrews described the plight of a North Carolina biology teacher who subsequently left teaching after the birth of her twins. She became a small business owner and was covered under individual health insurance policies. However, when she became pregnant again, she had a rude awakening. Despite paying an insurance premium of $400 per month, her pregnancy wasn’t covered unless she had paid for a special rider, prior to becoming pregnant. Since half of all pregnancies are “unplanned” how can you pay for coverage six months in advance of an unplanned event?
On October 12, 2010, the Committee on Energy and Commerce produced a dismal report that revealed a total disregard and absence of concern for pregnant women and their unborn babies by the insurance industry. The Committee’s chairmen, Congressmen Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak revealed the following: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*
