March 17th, 2010 by Debra Gordon in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Gather round boys and girls. Today’s lesson is on “risk pools.”
Before you pull out your iPhone to ward off the boredom you assume will come, know this: the concept of risk pools is at the heart of today’s healthcare reform debate.
To understand risk pools, you first have to understand the basic concept of insurance. Insurance is something you buy in case something happens. The more people buying the same type of insurance, the less risk the insurer faces that it will have to pay out for that aforementioned “something.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at A Medical Writer's Musings on Medicine and Health Care*
March 15th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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Why has health care reform run into so much trouble?
Well, it could be because people think reform plans will affect them in ways they aren’t going to like. Or because people don’t believe politicians in Washington who say that spending huge amounts of money will actually save money. Or because confusing mixed messages and ever-shifting sales pitches create a lot of anxiety about what’s really going on. It could be all of those things.
Or, it could be something more….sinister…. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First 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.
Read more »
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*
March 7th, 2010 by DrRob in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor
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Chaos theory – Noun – The branch of mathematics that deals with complex systems whose behavior is highly sensitive to slight changes in conditions, so that small alterations can give rise to strikingly great consequences.
Alternative definition:
Chaos theory – Noun – The branch of healthcare that deals with making the payment system increasingly complex and ever changing. This complexity and confusion impact physicians and patients in such a way that appropriate services in care of the patient are subject to rules and regulations that are deliberately complex, making alterations from the momentary rules inevitable. This exists so that even small alterations will free the insurance company from the responsibility to pay for said service.
I am no physicist, but I honestly think that a grasp and understanding of the first type of Chaos theory is more likely than that of the second. Let me give a demonstration of the second chaos theory in action: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*
Gather round boys and girls. Today’s lesson is on “risk pools.”
