April 6th, 2010 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Policy, Opinion
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I was invited to speak at the National Library of Medicine’s 2010 Annual Conference. Today I heard fellow speaker Uwe Reinhardt, Ph.D., discuss healthcare economics, and although his presentation was entertaining, as a physician I found it to be rather disturbing.
On the one hand I understand Reinhardt’s desire to engage Americans in a rational conversation about limited healthcare resources. My friend Dr. Rich Fogoros has been calling for this for many years. Yet, I was disappointed by his enthusiastic reductionism — that peoples’ lives should be reduced to a mere societal cost equation. He also said that, “When America grows up, it will look a lot more like Europe,” and cited a conversation with Dr. Phil Gingrey as an example of the congressman’s over-valuing human life. Read more »
April 5th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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You may have noticed, uncharacteristically for me, that I haven’t posted a blog in week. I thought it would be better to allow the readers to post their own reflections, and you did — with comments ranging for unabashed pride to skepticism to disdain for the law and the American College of Physician’s (ACP’s) role in bringing in about.
I respect the principled arguments made by those who believe that the legislation gives the government too much control or those who fear that it will add to the deficit and public debt, even though the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says otherwise. But there is one claim made by some of the critics that sticks in my craw, which is that the legislation will result in “massive cuts” to Medicare. Here are the facts. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
April 5th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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One of the points of contention in healthcare reform is whether it will do enough to control costs. Forget about the Congressional Budget Office’s optimistic outlook, as it discounts the Medicare “doc fix,” which, when factored in, will erase any supposed deficit reduction.
Reform doesn’t do very much to change the underlying structure of our health system, which continues to pay more for quantity of medical services, rather than shift the focus to value and quality.
Sharon Begley, writing in Newsweek, offers some sensible suggestions on what we can do control costs. Better incorporating the best clinical evidence into their medical decisions would help. She cites the continued, and possibly unnecessary, use of back surgery, knee surgery, vertebroplasties, and angioplasties, despite mounting evidence that they’re being overused. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
April 5th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Announcements, Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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President Obama likes to shake things up. He has named Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Medicare and Medicaid Agency known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This is a huge government agency with a budget of over $800 BILLION a year. That is more than most countries in the world have. Dr. Berwick would be a major force in implementing the new health laws and changing Medicare to be more efficient and cost effective.
The average person probably doesn’t know who Dr. Don Berwick is, but he is a big name in the healthcare industry. A pediatrician by training, he is the president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and is a national leader on quality and patient safety. By telling stories that people can relate to, he is a transformational leader for reducing hospital errors and reducing variability in care. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
April 2nd, 2010 by DavidHarlow in Announcements, Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor, Medblogger Shout Outs
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This week, healthcare reform looms large in the minds of medical blog carnival hosts. Evan Falchuk’s healthcare reform edition of Grand Rounds is up at his See First blog. Rch Elmore hosts the current Health Wonk Review at his Healthcare Technology News (check out the flying pigs photos and more; cf. the HealthBlawger’s “First Hundred Days” edition of Blawg Review for another reference to flying pigs).
The next edition of Health Wonk Review will be hosted right here on April 15th. The themes we will be exploring in that bi-weekly exegesis of health wonkery include the following:
- Metaphors
- Lying
- Song (esp. the blues)
- Art (esp. painting, drawing)
- Inventors and their contraptions
- Fast food
- Liberation
- Cosmetic surgery/medical spas
- Impressionist 19th century novels
- Immenseness
- Mortality
- Racial integration
And, of course…
Please submit your best examples of health wonkishness in these categories no later than 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday April 14th, thank you (extra points for early submissions), and come back on the 15th to learn more than you ever wanted to know about healthcare policy and to see the meaning of these categories revealed. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog*
