December 19th, 2009 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
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If President Obama’s healthcare bill is passed there is certain to be an increase in taxes, an increase in the budget deficit and a rationing of healthcare.
The President promised an increase in funding for preventative medicine. The term preventative medicine should mean discovering a disease process before it manifests itself through its complications. After discovering the disease it should be treated in the best possible way available.
The federal government is going to spent billions of dollars expanding a bureaucracy to further evaluate best practices. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was created to standardize the practice of medicine. The organization encouraged medical specialty organizations to write guidelines for the care of diseases in their specialty. A National Clearing House was created that published these guidelines. These guidelines are to be updated every five years. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
December 18th, 2009 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: Disdain For Authority, ePatient, Expertise, Internal Medicine, Knowledge, Online Health Information, Primary Care, Social Media
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The advent of the internet, combined with social media, has made everyone experts and has increased the disdain for authority.
No where is that more apparent than the firestorm that surrounds vaccines and its detractors.
The Los Angeles Times’ James Rainey writes a column on the phenomenon, observing the backlash against a well-written, nuanced piece debunking the link between vaccines and autism.
But as we know, those who already believe there is a connection are unlikely to be swayed. And on the web, it’s easy to find data and studies that fits an already established mindset. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
December 16th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Cardiology, Communications, Digital, Email, EMR, Hospital Systems, Patients, PHR, Privacy, Security, Technology
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I am fortunate to work at an institution that has a fully deployed electronic medical record (EMR) system that incorporates outpatient physician notes and inpatient notes under one umbrella. By and large, patient care is facilitated since both outpatient and inpatient notes appear simultaneously in the patient’s chart, along side telephone messages and clinical results. While there are plenty of kinks to work out, most of us have to admit that there are huge patient care advantages to such a system.
The system also promotes a secure e-mail service for patients to e-mail their physician and a mechanism to have their results forwarded directly to them. With the ability to empower patients directly, many would consider this as the Utopian model for heath care delivery of the future.
And what could be better? Patients get virtually unlimited access to their health care provider, 24-7. Results are whisked to the patient. Speed. Efficiency. “Green.” It’s all good, right?
Maybe. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
December 16th, 2009 by Davis Liu, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Costs, Family Medicine, Finance, Future, Healthcare reform, Internal Medicine, Physician Of The Future, Primary Care
2 Comments »
The current generation of medical students are not choosing primary care and instead are flocking to specialty care medicine in droves. Unlike decades ago when the best and brightest often went into internal medicine, the vast majority of students opt for dermatology, radiology, anesthesiology, and ophthalmology. Reasons for doing so include better predictable schedules, work-life balance, and compensation.
While I understand that proponents for more primary care doctors use other reasons to increase the primary care workforce, namely decrease the healthcare cost curve and improve health outcomes, medical students today need more compelling and practical reasons to do primary care.
I’ll give three. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis*
December 16th, 2009 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Opinion
Tags: AMA, Ethics, Gifting, Gifts, Medical Ethics, Patients, Physicians, Primary Care, Regifting
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Are gifts for doctors appropriate in the physician-patient relationship? Or should doctors refuse all offerings of gratitude that come their way?
Patients often give gifts to doctors as an appreciative sign of great thanks for for the care they provide. Some years I may go unappreciated for my efforts. Some years I get thanked for a job well done for spending time with the patient and their family. Some years I have patients that hate me. Some years I even I have patients that hate me and love me. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist Blog*
