March 10th, 2010 by StaceyButterfield in Better Health Network, Health Policy
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This week I’m attending the co-located National Medical Home Summit, National Retail Clinic Summit, and Population Health and Disease Management Colloquium here in Philly. (If only they had invited the transitions of care folks, they could have covered every hot-button issue in medical practice.)
The opening lecture, by Health Affairs editor Susan Dentzer, was meant to be an overview of health system change, but not surprisingly, the focus was on one obvious potential source of change–pending health care reform legislation. She saw the major accomplishment of last week’s summit as convincing the “three or four people who might have believed in a bipartisan solution” that it wasn’t going to happen. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 10th, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Better Health Network, News
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MITA Executive Director Dave Fischer spoke with HealthBlawg last week about industry efforts to control radiation dose in diagnostic radiology modalities such as CT.
A congressional hearing on radiation dose control took place the day after we spoke, and the FDA will be holding a hearing on diagnostic radiology issues in late March. Earlier last week, timed in part perhaps because of the upcomng congressional committee hearing, MITA kicked off the dose check initiative, a tool for manufacturers and providers to use in better regulating diagnostic imaging radiation dose, which Dave Fischer describes in our interview. He also referred to the CMS demonstration project on appropriateness of imaging services now underway, authorized by MIPPA. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog*
March 10th, 2010 by AlanDappenMD in Primary Care Wednesdays
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Introduction: Here’s a recap of the scenario to date: Mrs. Doctor, a primary care physician is in marriage counseling to determine the fate of her marriage with Mr. Insurance. While she loves her career (medicine), dealing with Mr. Insurance’s increasingly abusive financial and administrative demands are crushing her soul. Yet leaving preferred provider protection guaranteed through the marriage would be devastating too. And Mrs. Doctor doesn’t want to lose her kids (the patients); decades of historical indicators show that 95% of kids (patients) stay with Mr. Insurance and refuse to see Mrs. Doctor ever again.
Last time, the therapist performed a therapeutic technique on Mrs. Doctor akin to psychological judo. When she claimed she was helpless under the power of Mr. Insurance’ ability to pay the bills, the therapist pointed out that Mrs. Doctor has many more powers than he does, including education and training as a doctor, the ability to order labs and meds, and the understanding and trust of each patient. Why, then, would she abandon the kids without a battle? Mr. Insurance wants nothing to do with the kids, and creates hundreds of games to reduce or eliminate his financial obligation to them.
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March 9th, 2010 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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OK, so this is not a medically brilliant post, but I thought I would share! For a low sugar snack, you can try making your own gummy worms! Thank you to whomever developed this fun treat!
Ingredients
- 2 packages sugar free Jell-O
- 2 packages plain gelatin
- 1 cup boiling water
- (optional) If you like sour gummies, you can add a packet of Kool-Aid to the ingredients
Directions Read more »
This post, How To Make Your Own Sugar-Free Gummy Worms, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
March 9th, 2010 by Happy Hospitalist in Better Health Network, Opinion
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The CDC has put out an interactive map of heart disease and stroke so you can compare your state or even county with the rest of the country. It offers data on mortality, hospitalizations and even penetration of generalist and subspecialist availability.
What I found interesting was the lack of definitive association between access to generalists or subspecialists and mortality. While rural areas with a low penetration of physicians generally had a higher mortality than urban centers, many urban centers with a high penetration of generalists and subspecialist also had a high mortality as well. One could presume that rural America has many factors separate and independent of health care that affects their mortality rate. The same could be said for urban America. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
