Fat kills, and 2 other obesity myths

Conditions
March 11, 2012

Dr. Nortin Hadler, author of Worried Sick and Stabbed in the Back, is well-known for debunking medical myths. But in his latest book, Rethinking Aging (UNC Press), Hadler, a professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, commits what some might call medical heresy, suggesting that, perhaps, as we approach middle-age, “It’s OK to be Overweight.”

Wait a minute. What is Hadler saying? Everyone knows that obese Americans are driving …

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Fat kills, and 2 other obesity myths

Why more primary care may not improve health care quality

Policy
February 22, 2011

The emphasis on primary care as the “key” to lifting the quality of U.S. healthcare may be exaggerated according to a report by Dartmouth’s Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice.

“Primary care forms the bedrock of a well-functioning, effective health care system,” the researchers observe. But– and this is an important caveat- “simply increasing access to primary care, either by boosting the number of primary care physicians in an area …

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Why more primary care may not improve health care quality

If health care reform is killed, what happens?

Policy
November 2, 2010

If conservatives manage to kill health care reform legislation, what will happen next?

I really don’t want to go there.

First, I’m convinced that conservatives won’t be able to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Democrats will hold onto the Senate, and President Obama still has a veto. If necessary, he will use it to protect the bill. Meanwhile, the majority of the public either favors the legislation or want to “wait …

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If health care reform is killed, what happens?

Congress is actually increasing physician Medicare pay

Policy
August 16, 2010

Recently, the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician reimbursements was replaced with a 2.2 percent pay hike.

Later this year, Congress will have to consider the matter once again, just as it has ever year since 2003. This is the third time this year that Congress has averted Draconian cuts to physician’s payments. What, you might wonder, is going on?

Here is the back-story.  In 1997, Congress enacted a so-called “sustainable growth …

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Congress is actually increasing physician Medicare pay

Fire in the OR and how hospitals should report medical mistakes

Physician
July 14, 2010

Did you know that if there is a fire in the OR during surgery hospitals in some states don’t have to report the event to anyone?

When I read a recent story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer headlined, “Reporting Surgical Fires Could Improve Patient Safety in Ohio, Experts Say,” I was stunned.

The piece begins:

When fire breaks out and burns a patient during surgery in Pennsylvania, the hospital is required by law …

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Fire in the OR and how hospitals should report medical mistakes

Maggie Mahar: Removing the hazardous waste from healthcare

Policy
June 8, 2009

Most of us are now familiar with the estimates that as much as one-third of our health care dollars are squandered on ineffective, often unnecessary, unproven and overpriced products and services. But which third?

The fat in our health-care system is not hanging out conveniently on the edges of the steak, waiting to be trimmed. It will take a scalpel, a keen eye, and a steady hand to remove at least …

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Maggie Mahar: Removing the hazardous waste from healthcare