October 19th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, News, Research
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Doctors are the top six best-paid careers (based on median and top pay), with anesthesiologists being the best-paid, primary care being the sixth-best and nurse anesthetists the seventh best-paid, according to a survey by CNN/Money magazine and PayScale.com. But not one of the physician careers landed on the top lists for job growth or quality of life. The title of best job went to software architect and the second-best job went to physician assistant.
Take heart, though. When asked about having the most meaningful work (based on the percentage who think their job makes the world a better place), the top spot went again to anesthesiologists, and second through ninth went to some kind of medical provider or healthcare administrator. Social workers rounded out the tenth spot. (CNN/Money)
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
October 19th, 2010 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Medblogger Shout Outs, News, Opinion, True Stories
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I was in Las Vegas, but it wasn’t all just spending quality time with blogging buddies. There was work to do — we were there for the Social Health track of BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2010 to help inform others about the discussions taking place in the medical blogosphere, and the power of these communities.
The panel that I was participating on was Social Networks & The Medical Blogosphere: Compatible or Competitive, with fellow panelists Kevin Pho and Bryan Vartabedian (see photo) moderated by the fabulous Kim McAllister. The big question was: “Are these social networking technologies helping or hurting the blogosphere?”
We, as a panel, gave this a lot of thought as we prepared for our discussion, and we ultimately settled on the answer of “Well…both.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
October 18th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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Gosh, a whole lot of huffing over a little word! “Customer.” Okay, now grab a paper bag and breathe slowly and steadily into it. I know it’s hard to hear that word. I am sorry to have caused such trouble.
Some folks misunderstood my last post, thinking that I thought patients should only be considered customers, or that they should be referred to as customers. I never said that, nor did I imply it. I simply said that patients are customers. They are. Medical care is not free, and it is being paid for by the patient (directly or indirectly). Medicine is a business that has been so mismanaged that we are now in a crisis over its financial side. The trouble is the cost of care. Cost implies money is used, and trading money for services or goods is what business is about.
We’ve been spending our dollars on healthcare like a person irresponsibly running up a credit card bill they can’t pay back. The pain doesn’t happen now, it happens down the road when the collectors knock. We can’t order whatever tests we want or prescribe gazillion dollar drugs without remembering somebody will have to pay the bill. Ignoring the business of medicine has gotten us into deep doo-doo. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
October 18th, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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Those of you who’ve read this blog for any length of time know that I have been a pretty strong advocate for healthcare reform. This has been primarily motivated by my passion for universal coverage, but also with my frustration with the cost of the current healthcare system, the generally crummy outcomes, and the overall level of fragmentation in the whole affair.
Even today, I had to repeat blood tests on a cancer patient who came to the ER. He had had blood tests at the cancer center ACROSS THE STREET before presenting, but, so sorry, our computers don’t talk to theirs and it’s after 5pm now, so forget about getting those results.
So it’s with a mixture of enthusiasm and dread that I consider the coming onslaught of accountable care organizations (ACOs). What are ACOs? They’re the buzzword of the day, that’s for sure. Everybody knows they’re the next big thing. They’re coming. We’ll all be in an ACO by next Tuesday for sure. It’ll be nirvana. Right? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
October 18th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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You can be for freedom. You can be for smaller government that intrudes less. You can be for lower taxes. You can be for most anything, but if you’re interested in improving the sagging health of American citizens, get on Michael Bloomberg’s wheel.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bar city residents from using food stamps to buy sugary soft drinks. It turns out that last year $135 million in food stamp money was used for the consumption of these obesity-fostering beverages in NYC alone.
Mr Bloomberg is morphing into a real-world public health super star. Previously, he was a pioneer in banning smoking in restaurants and bars. They said it could not be done, or that it wouldn’t work. Well, the naysayers were dead wrong. Now public smoking bans our commonplace and, backed by objective data, are accepted as having prevented thousands of heart attacks. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
