Health policy

3,425 articles · Since 2007

Articles, page 161

Will patients or doctors be the biggest obstacle impeding health care reform?

March 10, 2009Mar 10, 200911

If both patients and doctors don't accept the changes required of their behavior, no amount of comparative effectiveness studies will cut health care spending.Two prominent medical journalists write as much in their respective blogs.First, the NY Times' Tara Parker-Pope notes…

If both patients and doctors don’t accept the changes required of their behavior, no amount of comparative effectiveness studies will cut health care spending.

Two prominent medical journalists write as much in their respective blogs.

First, the NY Times’ Tara Parker-Pope notes that patients have to realize that, yes, they should demand the best care possible. However, that means, “we will have to accept that ‘best’ …

Relative value units, and how the RVU payment system doesn’t allow doctors to practice good medicine

Kevin Pho, MD

March 5, 2009Mar 5, 20096

For those who don't know, every piece of work that a doctor performs is quantified and measured.The base unit of physician work is known as the relative value unit (RVU). Most physician salaries are determined by the amount of RVUs…

For those who don’t know, every piece of work that a doctor performs is quantified and measured.

The base unit of physician work is known as the relative value unit (RVU). Most physician salaries are determined by the amount of RVUs a doctor produces in a given year, and in most cases, can range between$35 and $45 per RVU in primary care, depending on geographic location and …

Op-ed: More coverage requires more doctors

Kevin Pho, MD

February 25, 2009Feb 25, 20094

The following op-ed was published on February 25th, 2009 in The New York Times' Room for Debate blog. With the number of the uninsured having risen to 48 million Americans, clearly the need for reform is dire. But President Obama…

The following op-ed was published on February 25th, 2009 in The New York Times’ Room for Debate blog.

With the number of the uninsured having risen to 48 million Americans, clearly the need for reform is dire. But President Obama made no mention of who exactly will take care of these patients, even if they get insurance under a successful health reform initiative.

As a primary care physician in southern New …

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Op-ed: Medicare’s mistake

Kevin Pho, MD

January 14, 2009Jan 14, 2009

The following op-ed was published on January 14th, 2009 in the USA Today. Every patient's worst nightmare is going to the hospital for a procedure only to have a surgical instrument left in his body, the wrong limb or organ…

The following op-ed was published on January 14th, 2009 in the USA Today.

Every patient’s worst nightmare is going to the hospital for a procedure only to have a surgical instrument left in his body, the wrong limb or organ operated on or, worse, dying from a medical mistake. These types of mistakes should never happen.

So when Medicare recently instituted a plan to deny hospital payments for …

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Op-ed: Medicare’s mistake

Why too many CT and MRI scans can hurt patients

Kevin Pho, MD

December 9, 2008Dec 9, 20086

This is an important article to read.Many of the incentives today encourage doctors to order more advanced imaging scans, like CTs and MRIs. This expensive practice is invariably caused by this common scenario, as "patients who are in pain often…

This is an important article to read.

Many of the incentives today encourage doctors to order more advanced imaging scans, like CTs and MRIs. This expensive practice is invariably caused by this common scenario, as “patients who are in pain often demand scans hoping to find out what is wrong, doctors are tempted to offer scans to those patients, and then, once a scan is done, it …

Op-ed: Ease ER overload

Kevin Pho, MD

December 3, 2008Dec 3, 20082

The following op-ed was published on December 3rd, 2008 in the USA Today. Emblematic of soaring health care costs, which are projected to reach $3 trillion by 2011,is the nationwide crisis of emergency department overcrowding. More than $18 billion is…

The following op-ed was published on December 3rd, 2008 in the USA Today.

Emblematic of soaring health care costs, which are projected to reach $3 trillion by 2011,is the nationwide crisis of emergency department overcrowding. More than $18 billion is wasted annually on unnecessary visits to the ER,with volume rising by 32% and wait times almost doubling to one hour during the past decade. Relieving this strain …

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Op-ed: Ease ER overload

The cost of chronic disease is the real health care crisis

Val Jones, MD

October 6, 2008Oct 6, 2008

A guest post by Val Jones, MD.On the eve of our second presidential debate, I had the chance to interview Dr. Ken Thorpe, Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), about America's healthcare crisis. Here's what he…

A guest post by Val Jones, MD.

On the eve of our second presidential debate, I had the chance to interview Dr. Ken Thorpe, Executive Director of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), about America’s healthcare crisis. Here’s what he had to say:

1. I was part of a press conference call with you and former Secretary of HHS, Tommy Thompson …

Op-ed: Wasted medical dollars

Kevin Pho, MD

September 28, 2008Sep 28, 200811

The following op-ed was published on April 23rd, 2008 in the USA Today. A recent analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that more than half the dollars in our $2.2 trillion health care system are wasted. Medical errors, inefficient use of information…

The following op-ed was published on April 23rd, 2008 in the USA Today.

A recent analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that more than half the dollars in our $2.2 trillion health care system are wasted.

Medical errors, inefficient use of information technology and poorly managed chronic diseases were all cited as factors. Dwarfing these reasons is a phenomenon in which doctors order tests to avoid the threat of a …

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Op-ed: Wasted medical dollars

Hospitalists and the loss of continuity of care

Kevin Pho, MD

August 27, 2008Aug 27, 20083

A reader writes:I agree with you completely on the importance of having a physician functioning as the coordinator of care for a patient (I have always assumed that a primary care physician would do that) my experience has been that…

A reader writes:

I agree with you completely on the importance of having a physician functioning as the coordinator of care for a patient (I have always assumed that a primary care physician would do that) my experience has been that they resist that role. I have become my own and my wife’s primary care person because of that.

There are hospitals that discourage …

Op-ed: Doctors’ pay cuts save little in health costs

Kevin Pho, MD

August 22, 2008Aug 22, 200823

The following op-ed was published on August 22nd, 2008 in the USA Today. "Why should I care if doctors get a pay cut?" my patient recently asked me. Therein lies the delicate dilemma physicians face today. While the common perception…

The following op-ed was published on August 22nd, 2008 in the USA Today.

“Why should I care if doctors get a pay cut?” my patient recently asked me.

Therein lies the delicate dilemma physicians face today. While the common perception is that the medical profession is well-compensated, there are serious implications in targeting physician pay to control medical spending.

Congress recently passed a bill protecting doctors from a 10.6% …

Op-ed: Shortage of primary care threatens health care system

Kevin Pho, MD

June 20, 2008Jun 20, 200815

The following op-ed was published on March 13th, 2008 in the USA Today. Crippling health care bills, long emergency room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face…

The following op-ed was published on March 13th, 2008 in the USA Today.

Crippling health care bills, long emergency room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.

Surveys suggest that health care is a top domestic priority in the presidential election, and there is no lack of ideas on how to fix our system. …

Op-ed: Cut Medicare payments for doctors, you’ll have fewer doctors

Kevin Pho, MD

August 6, 2007Aug 6, 200749

The following op-ed was published on August 6th, 2007 in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Medicare is planning to cut physician payment rates by 10 percent in 2008. These reductions will continue annually, and it is predicted that the total…

The following op-ed was published on August 6th, 2007 in the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Medicare is planning to cut physician payment rates by 10 percent in 2008. These reductions will continue annually, and it is predicted that the total cuts will be about 40 percent by 2016.

The topic of physician compensation generally elicits little public sympathy. After all, the average primary care physician salary in 2006 …

What is defensive medicine, and why do doctors practice it?

Kevin Pho, MD

April 4, 2007Apr 4, 200725

What is defensive medicine? Defensive medicine is the deviation from sound medical practice to avoid the threat of malpractice litigation. According to a 2005 study in JAMA, over 90 percent of physicians surveyed admitted to practicing defensive medicine. This can…

What is defensive medicine?

Defensive medicine is the deviation from sound medical practice to avoid the threat of malpractice litigation.

According to a 2005 study in JAMA, over 90 percent of physicians surveyed admitted to practicing defensive medicine. This can range from “positive” defensive medicine, like ordering unnecessary tests, referring to consultants, or performing unneeded procedures; to “negative” defensive medicine, like avoiding high-risk patients or procedures. …

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Articles, page 161

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