Medicare
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The Promise And Peril Of OpenNotes
...I worry about and applaud the possible effects of patients being able to read their notes online. We doctors need our own forum to make notes without worrying about hurting our patient’s feelings...
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The Promise of Electronic Health Records
Last week, Don Berwick completed his 17 month tenure as administrator of Medicare and Medicaid. The nation should be grateful that such a visionary was at the helm. The nation should be frustrated that he was never confirmed. Read More »
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The Salaries Of Health Executives: What Can Doctors Do?
... Health care costs in the U.S. remain above those of all other industrialized countries while physician salaries continue to fall. Even though the U.S. spends more dollars per capita on health care than any other country on earth, our outcomes, when compared to other nations, remain mediocre at best...
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The Third-Leading Cause Of Death Is Preventable, But Candidates Don't Mention It
It is more likely to kill you than terrorism. It has profoundly impacted virtually every American family. So this election year, why aren’t politicians at all levels of government talking about the third-leading cause of death in America—preventable errors in healthcare? The statistics are staggering: more than 500 patients per day are killed by errors, accidents and infections in hospitals alone. Medical errors kill more people annually than breast cancer, AIDS or drug overdoses...
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The Troika That Benefits From Complexity In Heath Care Financing
My good friend, Dr. Herb Kunkle, has aptly coined the term, “The Troika” consisting of hospitals, insurers and the government...A recent NY Times article describes just one dizzying example of the collusion between hospitals, insurers and government and the costs this Troika puts upon taxpayers and health care consumers...
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This Is The Year Obamacare Takes On Out-Of-Control Health Care Costs
Write down the date. 2012 is the year that some of the more ‘behind the camera’ aspects of the Affordable Care Act will begin to take effect—measures that are designed to primarily impact on the high cost of medicine. Read More »
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Time To Pay The Price Of War
Help has been slow to come for members of our military and our veterans in crisis. Nearly 1 million veterans from various wars await a ruling from the Veterans Administration on their claims for disability. The VA estimates that in the next several months, another 1.2 million claims will come in as more troops return and more veterans recognize that they suffer from PTSD...
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To Fix Medicare, Let Seniors Join the VA
By nearly all measures, the VA outperforms Medicare. It makes sense, then, to make room in the VA for civilians aged 65 or older.
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Today's 'Meaningful Use' Standard for Medication Orders by Hospitals May Save Few Lives; Later Stages May Do More
The federal government is currently offering bonus payments through Medicare and Medicaid to hospitals, physicians, and other eligible health professionals who meet new standards for “meaningful use” of health information technology. Whether these incentives will improve care, reduce errors, and improve patient safety as intended remains uncertain. Read More »
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Todd Park—Changing Behavior and Changing Policies Panel (Part 3)
Two megatrends are locking in: Massive incentive change and information liberation, says Todd Park, CTO of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The federal programs must lead the way in changing from fee-for-service to incentives for value in healthcare. Read More »
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Tool Aims at Tracking Doc Shortage
The Physicians Foundation has awarded a two-year $750K grant to aid in the development of a Web-based projection model that will be designed to be continually updated with new data to track ongoing physician workforce needs across the country. The nonprofit organization awarded the grant to the Cecil G. Read More »
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U. S. Electronic Health Record Initiative: A Backlash Growing?
There seems to be a slow but steady backlash growing among healthcare providers against the U.S. government’s $30 billion initiative to get all its citizens an electronic health record, initially set to happen by 2014 but now looking at 2020 or beyond. Read More »
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U.S. Needs Single-payer Health Care
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has essentially approved the Affordable Care Act, including the individual mandate, what affect will it have? Read More »
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Unnecessary CT Scans Increase Radiation Concerns
Long after questions were first raised about the overuse of powerful CT scans, hundreds of hospitals across the country needlessly exposed patients to radiation by scanning their chests twice on the same day, according to federal records and interviews with researchers. Read More »
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Upfront Costs Of Going Digital Overwhelm Some Doctors
Dr. Oliver Korshin practices ophthalmology three days a week in the same small office in east Anchorage, Alaska, he's had for three decades...But starting next year the federal government will penalize Korshin and other doctors for not using electronic health records; Medicare will withhold 1 percent of his payments...
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