July 26th, 2010 by StevenWilkinsMPH in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Doctor-Patient Connection, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Handing Off A Patient, Healthcare reform, Internal Medicine, NP, Nurse Practitioner, PA, Patient-Centered Medical Home, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Personal Physician, Personalized Medicine, Physician Assistant, Primary Care, Quality of Care, Team Care, The New York Times
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“Team care” has become a rallying cry for those who think the patient-centered medical home is bad for healthcare reform. Comments on a recent blog post in the New York Times provide a good example of this. When patients get sick, as the argument goes, they want to see their doctor — not some nurse or PA who they don’t know. I agree.
There are a whole bunch of things wrong with all the current focus on team care in the patient-centered medical home. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Mind The Gap*
July 26th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: AARP, ACP, AMA, American College Of Physicians, American Medical Association, Bob Wachter, CMS, Conservatives, Democrats, Disqualify, Dr. Don Berwick, Elena Kagan, General Medicine, Having An Opinion, Health Beat, Healthcare Legislation, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare reform, Hyperpartisan, Institute For Healthcare Improvement, Maggie Mahar, Patient Safety, Patient-Centered Care, Pediatrician, Public Office, Public Service, Qualifications, Quality Improvement, U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, University of California-San Francisco
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Many conservatives are up-in-arms about President Obama’s decision to appoint Don Berwick, a pediatrician and renowned expert in quality improvement and patient safety, to lead the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). They object to Dr. Berwick’s views on a range of issues, and to Obama’s decision to use his office’s authority to appoint Dr. Berwick while the Senate was out on a short Independence Day holiday recess. As a “recess appointment,” Dr. Berwick was able to take office without Senate hearings and confirmation, but he can only serve through the end of the 111th Congress — that is, until the end of 2011 — unless ratified by the Senate.
Berwick, though, also has many supporters. Maggie Mahar articulates the “pro” viewpoint on Dr. Berwick’s appointment in a recent Health Beat post. She observes that two former CMS administrators who served in Republican administrations have commented positively about Dr. Berwick’s qualifications. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
July 25th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
Tags: Communication Is Key, ED, Emergency Department, Emergency Medicine, Emergency Room, ER, Kept Informed, Long Wait Is Okay, Long Waits for Patients, Patient Satisfaction, Press Ganey Associates Inc., Satisfied Patients, U.S. Hospitals, Waiting Room
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Patients don’t mind waiting in the ER as long as they’re kept apprised of the time, an industry survey revealed. This is a good thing, since ER waits have risen nationally to an average of four hours and seven minutes this year.
Press Ganey Associates, Inc., has conducted the survey annually and says that ER wait times are four more minutes than last year, or a half hour more than the first survey in 2002. The company collected data on 1.5 million patients treated at 1,893 hospitals in 2009.
Despite longer wait times, patient satisfaction with U.S. hospital emergency departments stayed about the same in 2009. Communication was the key, as patients who waited more than four hours, but received “good” or “very good” information about delays were just as satisfied as patients who spent less than one hour in the emergency department.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
July 25th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Research
Tags: Better Medical Care, Cost Vs. Quality in Medicine, Denied Healthcare, Doctors Are Falliable, Enough Is Enough, Evidence Based Medicine, Evidence-Based Guidelines, Expensive Treatments Are Best, General Medicine, Health Affairs, Healthcare Quagmire, Healthcare reform, More Care Is Better, Retain Healthcare Consumers, Substandard Care, US Healthcare
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A new survey in the journal Health Affairs synthesizes nearly everything I believe is wrong with the U.S. healthcare system. The survey found that patients believe that more care is better, that the latest and most expensive treatments are the best, that none of their doctors provide substandard care, and that evidence-based guidelines are a pretext for denying them the care they need and deserve.
Sigh.
Until we can retrain consumers (that would be all of us) to understand that in medicine more is NOT better, that evidence-based guidelines may translate in some instances into less but better care, that doctors are falliable and should be questioned, and that the cost of a treatment has nothing to do with the quality, we will never get out of the healthcare quagmire in which we find ourselves.
Your thoughts?
*This blog post was originally published at A Medical Writer's Musings on Medicine, Health Care, and the Writing Life*
July 25th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: $7.1 Million, Bioethics, Birth Center, Buffalo, Carl Elliott, Catering To Patients, Childbirth, Economic Disincentive, Gary Thaden, Infection Rate, Labor And Delivery, Luxury Hotel Amenities, Maternity Ward, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association, Multi-tasking, New Generation of Patients, New Mothers, Obstetrics And Gynecology, Star Tribune, State-Of-The-Art, Steve Miles, U.S. Hospitals, Upscale Medicine
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Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune headline: “Buffalo birthing center has the latest amenities.” An excerpt:
Starting in August, new mothers will have a chance to multi-task in style in Buffalo, Minn.
The local hospital is unveiling its new birth center, where every patient room will be equipped with an iPod docking station, a flat-screen TV and DVD player, a soaking tub, rocking chair and refrigerator — oh, and a place for the baby to sleep, too.
Buffalo Hospital has spent $7.1 million to turn its old labor and delivery unit into a state-of-the-art facility to appeal to a new generation of patients.
At maternity wards around the country, that increasingly means catering to patients and families as if they’re at “a luxury hotel,” as the Buffalo Hospital website puts it.
And some smart readers have reacted. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
