Health policy and public health

4,357 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 171

Maternal death rates improve but hurts fund raising

May 5, 2010May 5, 2010

by Mike Himowitz When you’re advocating for a health cause, can good news be bad news? It’s entirely possible -- when science threatens fund-raising, and at the worst possible time. Consider a study of worldwide maternal death rates by a…

by Mike Himowitz

When you’re advocating for a health cause, can good news be bad news?

It’s entirely possible — when science threatens fund-raising, and at the worst possible time.

Consider a study of worldwide maternal death rates by a team from the University of Washington that appeared online recently in The Lancet.

The group, led by Christopher Murray, of the school’s Institute for …

Health policy

Health reform may mean meaningful changes for physicians

Aldebra Schroll, MD

May 4, 2010May 4, 20106

Jim called me late on a fall afternoon to report our mutual friend was in the local emergency room. “It looks like he had a stroke”. I immediately asked to speak to the ER doctor for the results of the…

It has been over two years since my friend died. He was among the millions …

Physician voices

Defensive medicine worsens patient care and raises costs

Roy Benaroch, MD

May 3, 2010May 3, 2010

Health care in the United States costs too much, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change. Recent health care reform legislation doesn’t take any meaningful steps towards reducing or controlling costs. In fact, it explicitly forbids states from…

How does a fear of lawsuits increase costs? The most direct way is …

Real physician voices, twice a week

Free, and one click to unsubscribe.

Health policy

How health care reform will affect mental health

Diana E. Lee

May 3, 2010May 3, 20104

by Diana E. Lee The cost of therapy and medication for underinsured people are common barriers keeping people from getting treatment for a mental health problem. Although there are community mental health centers that provide treatment for many people, their…

by Diana E. Lee

The cost of therapy and medication for underinsured people are common barriers keeping people from getting treatment for a mental health problem.

Although there are community mental health centers that provide treatment for many people, their resources are stretched far too thin to help everyone who needs treatment on the level someone with a more serious issue may need. One of the most positive changes that will arise …

Physician voices

Healthcare reform and the new role of hospitalists

MedPage Today

April 30, 2010Apr 30, 20102

by John Gever With growing pressures on hospitals from the new healthcare reform law and from the stakeholder community to become more efficient and effective, administrators may find they already have the necessary expertise under their own roofs, a prominent…

by John Gever

With growing pressures on hospitals from the new healthcare reform law and from the stakeholder community to become more efficient and effective, administrators may find they already have the necessary expertise under their own roofs, a prominent hospitalist said.

“Some organizations with hospitalist programs need look no further than these programs to chart a course toward more effective physician-hospital integration,” wrote Robert M. Wachter, MD, of the University of …

Health policy

Physician supply trends for primary care doctors and specialists

William R. Yates, MD

April 30, 2010Apr 30, 20104

Health care reform continues to be a key political topic of discussion in the U.S. Physician supply and specialty training are important elements in designing an efficient system that provides the highest quality of care. To understand where U.S. physician…

To understand where U.S. physician supply and specialty training is headed, I examined the U.S. trends from 1990 to 2007 (latest year data is available).

Physician supply has been growing during this period. In 1990, there were …

Physician voices

Internal medicine is dead, will concierge physicians thrive?

Steven Knope, MD

April 29, 2010Apr 29, 201034

For the last several years, writers in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have authored doomsday editorials about the prognosis of primary care medicine. There has been much discussion about the fact…

For the last several years, writers in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have authored doomsday editorials about the prognosis of primary care medicine. There has been much discussion about the fact that internists and family practitioners cannot keep pace with rising overheads and falling reimbursement under the traditional third-party payment system.

Paraphrasing a recent story published in …

Physician voices

Primary care is burdened by excessive paperwork

Charles R. D'Agostino, MD

April 28, 2010Apr 28, 201015

We’ve all seen the headlines –- “Primary Care Physicians Becoming a Scarce Breed”, “Wait Times for Appointments Increasing”, “Primary Care in Crisis” –- and have heard the pundits pontificating on the deteriorating state of primary care. But rarely do we…

But rarely do we hear what’s happening from physicians on the front lines, those actually seeing patients. Consequently, with direct access to the primary care trenches, replete with an overworked physician and staff members, …

Physician voices

Primary care shortage solutions after health care reform

Toni Brayer, MD

April 27, 2010Apr 27, 201019

The new reform law which is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will be a huge disappointment to the millions of previously uninsured people who finally purchase insurance policies when they try to find a doctor. Primary…

Primary care physicians are already in short supply and the most popular ones have closed practices or long waits for new patients. Imagine when 2014 hits and all of those patients come …

Health policy

Texas Medical Association: Stop the Medicare meltdown

Texas Medical Association & William H. Fleming III, MD

April 26, 2010Apr 26, 201024

A guest column by the Texas Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. by William H. Fleming III, MD So we have this new health law that’s intended to provide better health care access for most Americans. Many of the reforms rely…

A guest column by the Texas Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

by William H. Fleming III, MD

So we have this new health law that’s intended to provide better health care access for most Americans. Many of the reforms rely upon the sustainability and effectiveness of Medicare.

Medicare, however, is doomed to failure unless Congress fixes a fundamental problem existing within the current program — the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The …

Physician voices

Undocumented individuals make hospital discharge difficult

John Schumann, MD

April 26, 2010Apr 26, 20108

Working in the hospital this month, my team has been caring for Mr. M. He was here when we started on service at the beginning of the month, and unless his planned transfer to another facility goes through, he’ll be…

Mr. M is in his fifties. He speaks Spanish. He is an undocumented immigrant from Central …

Health policy

Health reform won’t help the ER

Chris Rangel, MD

April 26, 2010Apr 26, 20102

Contrary to popular belief, those without health insurance are not flooding emergency rooms as a consequence of being cut off from routine and preventive care. Actually, frequent visitors to the local ER are far more likely to have insurance according…

Frequent users account for about 8% of ED patients but 28% of visits. Although frequent

…

Read more…

Health reform won’t help the ER

Health policy

Don Berwick and whether he can change Medicare and Medicaid

MedPage Today

April 25, 2010Apr 25, 20107

by Marianne Mattera President Obama is planning to appoint Don Berwick -- the Harvard pediatrician, recognized health policy expert, and head of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) -- as the new head of CMS. Berwick's nomination has been heralded…

by Marianne Mattera

President Obama is planning to appoint Don Berwick — the Harvard pediatrician, recognized health policy expert, and head of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) — as the new head of CMS.

Berwick’s nomination has been heralded by many as a terrific choice.

Our own health policy columnist, David Nash, said that “Berwick’s global following is a powerful political force …

Physician voices

St. Vincent’s Hospital closes, but who’s to blame?

Marie Cooper

April 24, 2010Apr 24, 20104

St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Greenwich Village was founded in 1849, making it the third oldest hospital in New York City. It has been an occasional scene of notoriety but mostly it has witnessed countless episodes of anonymous compassion and care. My two sons were born there. As a major teaching hospital, it has over 1000 affiliated physicians. It is where generations of New Yorkers …

Health policy

Op-ed: Health insurance doesn’t mean doctors will be available

Kevin Pho, MD

April 24, 2010Apr 24, 201013

The following op-ed was published on March 30th, 2010 in AOL News. Health reform has passed, and the United States is poised to join the rest of the industrialized world in providing most of its citizens with affordable health coverage.…

The following op-ed was published on March 30th, 2010 in AOL News.

Health reform has passed, and the United States is poised to join the rest of the industrialized world in providing most of its citizens with affordable health coverage.

But having health insurance doesn’t necessarily mean it will be easy to find a doctor. Even before reform, reports projected a shortfall of 40,000 primary care physicians over …

Health policy

Medicaid physician payment rates hurts primary care doctors

David B. Nash, MD, MBA

April 23, 2010Apr 23, 201014

Across the country, state Medicaid health insurance programs serving low-income children and families, people with disabilities, and older adults are struggling in an environment of chronic underfunding. Consider that, nationwide, at least one child in four relies on Medicaid for…

Consider that, nationwide, at least one child in four relies on Medicaid for health coverage. Medicaid funds healthcare services for two out of every five births and fills in gaps in Medicare coverage for the elderly and disabled.

But inadequate payments and outmoded methods of …

Health policy

Health reform winners and losers, and how it affects doctors

Richard Reece, MD

April 19, 2010Apr 19, 201012

I congratulate President Obama and the Democrats on their historic health reform achievement. Will this bill be able to win approval as it runs the parliamentary gauntlet? Is it an act of political suicide that will become manifest in November?…

I congratulate President Obama and the Democrats on their historic health reform achievement.

Will this bill be able to win approval as it runs the parliamentary gauntlet? Is it an act of political suicide that will become manifest in November? Will it bankrupt the country because of lack of cost controls?

Regardless of where one stands, the bill is a political act of vast ambition and colossal risk.

Now may be a good …

Health policy

Op-ed: Health reform is missing malpractice and primary care fixes

Kevin Pho, MD

April 17, 2010Apr 17, 201034

The following op-ed was published on March 22nd, 2010 in CNN.com. With health reform passing the House, a comprehensive overhaul of our health care system draws another step closer. Coverage will expand to cover nearly 95 percent of legal U.S.…

The following op-ed was published on March 22nd, 2010 in CNN.com.

With health reform passing the House, a comprehensive overhaul of our health care system draws another step closer.

Coverage will expand to cover nearly 95 percent of legal U.S. residents. With a recent study showing that patients without health insurance have a shorter life span, coupled with the number of uninsured approaching 50 million in 2010, that is perhaps the …

Physician voices

Rural medicine won’t be helped by health reform

Richard Bendinger, MD

April 14, 2010Apr 14, 201011

by Rick Bendinger, MD I am a rural health provider in Abbeville, Alabama and have been here almost 30 years. I originally went to school on a public health scholarship and took the private practice option. This was a program…

by Rick Bendinger, MD

I am a rural health provider in Abbeville, Alabama and have been here almost 30 years. I originally went to school on a public health scholarship and took the private practice option. This was a program that existed in the 1980s that paid for tuition and a stipend with the obligation to go either to a prison, rural area, or Indian reservation.

Sadly the program no longer exists. …

Health policy

Patients who visit the emergency department have insurance

MedPage Today

April 14, 2010Apr 14, 2010

by Joyce Frieden Most patients who visit the emergency department (ED) four or more times a year have health insurance and a primary care physician, a review of the literature found. "The uninsured represent only 15% of frequent users and…

by Joyce Frieden

Most patients who visit the emergency department (ED) four or more times a year have health insurance and a primary care physician, a review of the literature found.

“The uninsured represent only 15% of frequent users and are no more likely to be frequent users than they are to be occasional ED users (<4 visits/year),” Eduardo LaCalle, MD, MPH and Elaine Rabin, MD, of the Mount Sinai School of …

Health policy and public health

Articles, page 171

Real physician voices, twice a week

The Podcast

Latest episodes

Most popular

The Podcast

Latest episodes

Most popular