Health policy and public health

4,357 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 142

Choosing Wisely is the health reform we need

April 9, 2012Apr 9, 20129

Let me tell you about a possible paradigm-changing idea in the seemingly hopeless matter of controlling runaway healthcare costs—a topic that has far-reaching implications, not just for healthcare, but for our nation’s economy and vitality. Organizations of doctors have decided…

Organizations of doctors have decided to embrace common sense in the practice of Medicine.

Led by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and joined by many other medical societies, the Choosing Wisely movement aims to …

Health policy

Why your local hospital may not be relevant in the future

Howard Luks, MD

April 8, 2012Apr 8, 20127

The pressures mounting on most institutions as the years trudge by are mounting. They are mired in mountains of regulations, the need to implement millions of dollars of IT "improvements," streamline their most productive service lines, strip down their front-line…

The pressures mounting on most institutions as the years trudge by are mounting. They are mired in mountains of regulations, the need to implement millions of dollars of IT “improvements,” streamline their most productive service lines, strip down their front-line staff to dangerous levels … and all this while their reimbursements are being crushed.

Consider that a profitable hospital currently operates on a 1% margin.

Consider that the hospital is considered the most costly …

Health policy

Why we need an economic informed consent

George Lundberg, MD

April 7, 2012Apr 7, 201232

The next time I receive medical care, I want to know how much it will cost before I agree that it will be done -- and that includes no matter who pays the bill. And, doctor, I want you to…

The next time I receive medical care, I want to know how much it will cost before I agree that it will be done — and that includes no matter who pays the bill.

And, doctor, I want you to know and I want you to care how much what you prescribe is going to cost me or somebody.

You say it is beyond your control to know? I say, insist.

Rise up, …

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Health policy

Health comes from community

Michael Moore

April 6, 2012Apr 6, 20122

Recently I had the privilege of travelling to Vancouver, British Columbia to attend the inaugural BC Forum of the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research. We had a wonderful host in the Department of Global Health of Simon Fraser University…

That is not what I want to share now. The conference started with …

Read more…

Health comes from community

Health policy

My philanthropic advice to America’s healthcare supporters

Kristine Christlieb Canavan

April 5, 2012Apr 5, 2012

If you have a brain and work in healthcare, you know chances are good that David Houle and Jonathan Fleece’s prediction that “one third of hospitals will close by 2020” is on the money. Until a recent marriage and move took me to St. Louis, my job was to sell a Texas hospital system’s plans for the future to major donors; and throughout my five-year tenure, the looming and pervasive …

Health policy

Why American health care is inching closer to veterinary clinic status

Robert Sewell, MD

April 5, 2012Apr 5, 201257

Have you ever owned a dog? If so, did you ever take him to the vet? I’m sure that even if you don’t own a pet, you understand the gist of the question, but now I’d like to ask it…

Have you ever owned a dog? If so, did you ever take him to the vet? I’m sure that even if you don’t own a pet, you understand the gist of the question, but now I’d like to ask it again in a different way. Before taking your animal to the doggie doctor, do you ask the little guy which vet he wants to see, or what treatment he wants …

Health policy

Disruptive changes are coming to the delivery system

Stephen C. Schimpff, MD

April 2, 2012Apr 2, 20127

More chronic illnesses, more diseases of old age, consumers demanding more quality and safety, physicians no longer in typical private practice, and high deductible health care polices are each about to cause major changes in the practice of medicine and…

Health care delivery will change substantially in the coming years. This is …

Health policy

Will physicians ever support the Affordable Care Act?

Colin Son, MD

April 1, 2012Apr 1, 20124

A recent survey by Deloitte of physicians opinions on health care reform has drawn some very differing conclusions from partisan commentators. The 501 physicians answered a number of questions, the most notable of which included a dichotomous question on whether…

A recent survey by Deloitte of physicians opinions on health care reform has drawn some very differing conclusions from partisan commentators.

The 501 physicians answered a number of questions, the most notable of which included a dichotomous question on whether the Affordable Care Act was “A good start” or “A step in the wrong direction.” The question was split 44% to 44%. All respect for Mr. Pollack and Dr. Murthy writing …

Health policy

The basic health needs of most Medicare patients left behind by design

Robert Bowman, MD

April 1, 2012Apr 1, 20122

Medicare needs to cut costs. It has chosen methods to cut costs that will damage the basic health care services needed by most Medicare patients. And instead of calling this cost cutting, it uses terms such as “shared savings.” Even worse, the “shared savings” will result in even less health spending in United States locations that already have lowest health spending. Innovative designs are not the problem. The problem is …

Health policy

What does broccoli have to do with health reform?

Tianzan Zhou

March 29, 2012Mar 29, 201234

Up until now, I hadn’t considered to write an article on healthcare reform simply because of the divisiveness and the complexity of the issue. But after listening to the Supreme Court session and the arguments made on both sides, I can’t help but comment on one popular argument that continuously resurfaces. Yes, it’s the infamous “broccoli argument.”

In short, the argument states that if government were given the power to force individuals to …

Health policy

Building on the success of coordinated care

Stephan Deutsch, MD

March 28, 2012Mar 28, 2012

With all the debate about how to best implement coordinated care that benefits patients while being feasible for providers and economical for the government, it’s ironic that little attention has been given to a decades-old managed care model that does…

But as Medicaid reform progresses in New York and elsewhere, that may be about to change.

The program is called PACE, or the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, …

Health policy

Conservatives should love the Affordable Care Act

Kevin Pho, MD

March 28, 2012Mar 28, 201233

And progressives should want health reform to fail. No, you read that right. Counter-intuitive? Let me explain. As the fate of the Affordable Care Act hangs in the balance in the Supreme Court, both progressive and conservative pundits have been…

And progressives should want health reform to fail.

No, you read that right.

Counter-intuitive? Let me explain. As the fate of the Affordable Care Act hangs in the balance in the Supreme Court, both progressive and conservative pundits have been working overtime to discern the future of health reform.

The traditional thinking is that progressives direly want health reform to move forward, and …

Health policy

The Affordable Care Act needs primary care to be effective

Kevin Pho, MD

March 26, 2012Mar 26, 2012

The following column was published on March 26, 2012 in CNN. With the Supreme Court set to hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of the President Obama's health care law, more patients than ever have been asking for my thoughts…

The following column was published on March 26, 2012 in CNN.

With the Supreme Court set to hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of the President Obama’s health care law, more patients than ever have been asking for my thoughts about health reform.

I practice primary care in southern New Hampshire near the Massachusetts border, which gives me a firsthand look at how health reform has impacted my neighboring state. Despite flaws …

Health policy

Health reform is in the hands of the Supreme Court

Teeb Al-Samarrai, MD

March 26, 2012Mar 26, 201237

I am often fascinated by the simplified dichotomies and ironies of the health care discussion. Some argue that the individual mandate infringes on individual rights yet one could argue that tying health insurance to a particular employer is in itself a violation of individual liberty. When Patrick Henry stated, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” in protest of the Stamp Act of 1775, he helped swing the assembly (including …

Health policy

An America without health insurance companies

George Lundberg, MD

March 25, 2012Mar 25, 201244

Imagine an America with no health insurance companies. What do health insurance companies do? They take as much money as possible from people who want health insurance coverage. They pay out as little money as possible -- so-called medical loss…

Imagine an America with no health insurance companies.

What do health insurance companies do?

They take as much money as possible from people who want health insurance coverage. They pay out as little money as possible — so-called medical loss — to settle claims from creditors for health services and products that have been delivered.

They keep as much money as possible for the incomes of their executives and other employees, and to …

Health policy

Physicians are gloomy about health reform

Patricia Salber, MD

March 23, 2012Mar 23, 20129

Recently, The Doctors Company (TDC), the country’s largest insurer of physician and surgeon medical liability, decided to survey doctors to determine what they are thinking and feeling about health reform. The results are pretty gloomy. To put this in context,…

To put this in context, it is important to understand a bit about how TDC conducted the survey. First of all, the universe of doctors they reached out to were doctors insured by The Doctors Company. That means …

Physician voices

What health care can learn from a Super Bowl loss

Davis Liu, MD

March 20, 2012Mar 20, 2012

Although my team, the New England Patriots lost Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants in one of the most exciting and tense games in recent memory, reviewing both the pre and post game coverage provided even more learning for doctors and healthcare than my prior post. One can demand excellence and still fall short. When one fails to achieve the intended goals, the learnings can be as …

Health policy

Will patients accept focused networks in today’s economy?

Kevin Pho, MD

March 20, 2012Mar 20, 20123

In a bid to save money, health insurers are coming out with what's known as "focused networks," which typically exclude the highest cost hospitals. In the Boston area, one such plan comes from health insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, whose…

In a bid to save money, health insurers are coming out with what’s known as “focused networks,” which typically exclude the highest cost hospitals.

In the Boston area, one such plan comes from health insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, whose plan excludes Partner’s Health Care institutions. That’s significant, since Partners includes the famed Massachusetts General Hospital as well as Brigham and …

Health policy

10 strategic questions to ask yourself about the future of health care

Joe Flower

March 19, 2012Mar 19, 2012

Today and for the next few years the weather of this industry will be dominated by pervasive, discontinuous change. Structures, revenue streams, relationships of every level: All are shifting in fundamental ways. Specifically, the weather will be driven by: i)…

i) invention and propagation of new business models;
ii) shifting risk onto both the provider and the patient, accompanied by building of new risk-based relationships, contracts and alliances;
iii) smart primary care coming to …

Health policy

How political agendas erode the doctor-patient relationship

Maggie Kozel, MD

March 19, 2012Mar 19, 201213

Your doctor’s exam room is getting overcrowded. Modern US health care means that, like it or not, you and your physician are sharing that once private space with an insurance executive constantly hissing in your doctor’s ears to move it along. You are also sharing it with pharmaceutical marketers, lobbyists from the food industry … special interest groups of every stripe.

Now move over and make room for one more interested …

Health policy and public health

Articles, page 142

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