October 6th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: ACP Advocate, American College Of Physicians, Bob Doherty, Fred Flintstone, Health Reform Hits Main Street, Healthcare reform, Kaiser Family Foundation, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Public Awareness, Public Health Initiative, Public Knowledge, The Flintstones, You Toons
No Comments »
Like most kids who grew up in the 1960s, I spent many a night watching the adventures of Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty, the coolest cavemen ever (sorry, GEICO). It is hard to explain the appeal of the Flintstones, which [recently] celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first broadcast. Its animation was primitive, the stories campy and cliché, and it was horribly sexist — but the characters were lovable, the dialogue funny, and who couldn’t love the way it depicted “modern conveniences” (like washing machines) using only stone-age technologies (bones, stones and dino-power?)
What does Fred Flintstone have to do with healthcare? Not much, really, although Fred was the victim of a medical error. According to Answers.com: “A 1966 episode had Fred can’t stop sneezing, so he goes to the doctor for some allergy pills. The prescription gets mixed up with another package of pills which, when taken, transform Fred into an ape! Only Barney witnesses this metamorphosis, and naturally he can’t convince anyone what is happening … until a fateful family outing at the Bedrock Zoo.” (Of course, this all might have been prevented if they had e-prescribing in those days.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
October 1st, 2010 by Jennifer Shine Dyer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips, Research, True Stories
Tags: Baseball, Biomedical Ethics, Childen's Health, Chronic Disease In Children, Chronic Illness and Kids, Disabled Child, Disease Management, Dr. Jennifer Shine Dyer, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Kids With Chronic Disease, Longer Life, Pediatrics, Primary Care, Quality of Life, Secondary Treatment, Shay Days
No Comments »
As a medical professional who often treats children with chronic diseases, my patients turn to me not only for treatment advice but often for advice on how to improve their quality of life. I often have difficulty addressing the latter as there is a paucity of research on quality of life outcomes as compared to biomedical outcomes.
However, preliminary data from DR Walker et al. (1) have shown that comprehensive disease management improves quality of life and thereby reduces medical costs for some common chronic illnesses. Recently, a patient shared a story with me that was written by an anonymous author which demonstrates the powerful effect of seemingly small efforts on the quality of life of a disabled child. Read more »
September 30th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Medblogger Shout Outs, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Doctor Shortage, General Medicine, Happy Hospitalist, Hospital Medicine Lead Doctor, Recruiting Doctors, Society of Hospital Medicine, Trying To Hire A Hospital Medicine Physician Leader
No Comments »
How can you find a hospitalist director with enough experience to lead a team of hospitalists? Recruitment can be tough. A reader recently asked for my opinion:
I am searching for a Hospitalist to lead a department in the state of XXX and I’m not finding any leads. On a good day, I can find a new graduate interested in moving to XXX, but I have not been able to find an experienced Hospitalist who has the supervisory experience to lead a department. …and this is an opportunity (full time & permanent) for good pay with an excellent work/life balance. Where would you suggest I look for my Lead Hospitalist?
My first thought is for you to purchase a booth at the Society of Hospital Medicine’s yearly conference and then bombard all the hospitalists with pens and squeezy balls while trying to pocket an email and home address or two. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
September 30th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Dr. Ramona Bates, Drop Medicare, Fellow Healthcare Providers, General Medicine, Medicare Boycott, Medicare Non-Participation, Medicare Opt-Out, Medicare Reimbursement, Medicare's Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System, Opting Out Of Medicare, PECOS, Senator Blanche Lincoln, Suture For A Living
No Comments »
I opted out of Medicare several years ago. This means I don’t see Medicare patients other than in the emergency room when I’m on unassigned call. I don’t submit bills to Medicare or to those patients. I just let it slide.
Last Wednesday I received the following letter from a large radiology group in my home town:
September 2010
RE: PECOS Enrollment
To our referring physicians and their office managers:
At __________we have begun a project to identify ordering physicians who are not enrolled in Medicare’s Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS). Our purpose is to remind physicians of the importance of enrollment to them and to us.
Beginning in January, 2011 those providers filing Medicare claims listing an NPI number on the claim of an unenrolled provider will have their claims denied. This would apply to any claim you send in and to any claim we submit for services provided to your patients because we are required to list your NPI number on our claims. This applies both to patients referred to our private offices and the hospitals where we provide radiology professional interpretations or services.
So, you can see our effort is not purely altruistic. We have a financial interest in reminding you of the importance of PECOS enrollment. In trying to ascertain whether you are enrolled, we are using an online program you can find at www.oandp.com/pecos. Simply enter your NPI number in the entry block and press enter. If you enter a valid NPI number, your name will appear and beside it will be a symbol indicating where Medicare recognizes your PECOS enrollment.
Since Medicare is continually updating the files, we may have accessed the system before your enrollment was completed. We will continue to monitor the situation in hopes you will enroll if you intend to continue seeing Medicare patients. If you have already enrolled or have no plans to enroll, please excuse our intrusion.
Sincerely,
This bothers me. It is not likely that I will be sending them any patients from my office, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be the occasional patient with my name on their chart in the ER. If I need to take a Medicare patient to the operating room from the ER, will the hospital not get paid? Will the anesthesiologist not get paid?
Will my non-participation in Medicare affect my fellow healthcare providers receiving payment? If so, that is just not right. I voiced this concern to Senator Blanche Lincoln shortly after receiving this letter. She agrees with me. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
September 29th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
Tags: 33 Charts, Changing Medical Profession, Devolving Practice of Medicine, Doctor As Human Docent, Doctor's Role, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, Empowered Patients, Family Medicine, Future of Medical Practice, General Medicine, Internal Medicine, Medical Technology, Patient Empowerment, Primary Care, Role of the Physician
1 Comment »
I had lunch with a group of physicians recently, and along for the ride was a college student thinking of applying to medical school. When talking about the future, I suggested that the work of a physician 30 years from now will be hardly recognizable to today’s physician. Everybody disagreed and the student was confused. There was a lot of denial and myopic rationalization.
But I can’t blame them, really. Most of us see what’s immediately changing in our day-to-day work and the bigger picture gets lost. For most of us, the role of the physician is hard to see for anything other than it always has been. Most live and work as the self-determined independent care coordinator, reactively working to treat disease just as its been done for over a century. But change is happening around us. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
