October 10th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor, Opinion, Research
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Guest post by Dr. John Henning Schumann
I’m not a drum banger for the latest “epidemics” to come to media attention, whether it’s H1N1, Vitamin D, or getting your kids CAT-scanned routinely.
But there comes a time in every blogger’s life when he must comment on something that does bubble up into consciousness a tad, shall we say, often.
I’m talking here about an epidemic that we are learning more about each passing day. Something that you or someone you know or sleep with may be diagnosed with, and ultimately treated for (an interesting national problem in its own right): Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
What is it, you ask? A new national scourge? Stop the presses! Can I catch it? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
August 11th, 2010 by admin in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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By John Henning Schumann, M.D.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka “Health Care Reform”) signed by President Obama in March will revolutionize primary care in the United States. By 2014 tens of millions of uninsured people will “enter” the system by being granted insurance, either through expansion of the Medicaid program or through mandated purchasing of insurance via state pools or the private market.
This alone will have a profound impact, straining the capacity of our already frayed system. Therefore, embedded in the law are funds to encourage growth and improvement in primary care: Incentives to encourage graduates to enter primary care fields (family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics) and practice in underserved areas (through scholarships and loan forgiveness), and money to re-format the way that primary care is practiced and paid for. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*