MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'doctors health'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:06:16 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086174&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhealth-care-attorney-warns-about-hipaa-privacy-issues-in-social-media%2F2011.07.31 This is the first of a three part post addressing the legal concerns of social networking in the health care arena. Legal expert, David Harlow, Esq., Health Care Attorney and Consultant at The Harlow Group, LLC in Boston, addresses the legal issues. Q:  Barbara: What are the legal implications for doctors, nurses and hospitals engaging in social media? A:  David: Health care providers are concerned about HIPAA privacy issues – HIPAA violations may occur as a result of staff posts, or as a result of patient, family or caregiver posts – as well as potential liability for medical advice provided on line.  Physicians and nurses have been sanctioned and fired for privacy breaches via social media, so these are real concerns.  Some communications that folks think are OK may in fact be v... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086174 Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:00:39 +0100 5086174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921377&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F1EmFLo4w4a4%2F Talk to anyone for very long about how to improve health care in the U.S. and you eventually hear something along the lines of: “We have to start paying physicians for getting and keeping people healthy instead of for doing as many procedures and tests as possible.” According to a report from Merritt Hawkins, a big physician search and consulting firm, that isn’t yet happening to a significant degree in the real world. The company’s annual report on recruiting incentives finds that 74% of the jobs they recruited for in the year ending March 31 featured a performance bonus. Of those that offered such a bonus, in 90% of the cases it was linked to “fee-for-service style volume.” Meantime, fewer than 7% of the jobs offering bonuses rewarded physicians for me... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921377 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:16:22 +0100 4921377 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862502&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FcgbrDCumF4Q%2F What could primary-care physicians do differently to benefit patients’ health and cut risks, harms and costs? The National Physicians Alliance, a 22,000-member group of doctors that advocates for affordable, universal health care, came out with its own list — lists, actually, since there’s one each for family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. The group’s recommendations are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The suggestions reflect the consensus of the physician working groups that developed them. Field testers completed online surveys to rate each suggestion on the impact it would have on quality of care and cost, the strength of the supporting evidence and the ease of implementing the activity. Without further ado, here are the lists (stripp... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862502 Mon, 23 May 2011 21:18:21 +0100 4862502 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642570&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F7lj1zDfVKeo%2F A number of hospitals and health systems around the country are adopting safety programs to reduce harm to both mother and infant in the delivery room, according to a story in the WSJ’s special report on health-care innovation. But in at least one case, innovation has drawn some unexpected–and apparently unwanted–attention. In  last month’s issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology , New York Weill Cornell Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital reported impressive results from an obstetrics safety program, which trained teams in standard protocols to reduce the risk of  birth injury. Now the hospital and the study authors are protesting the fact that a bill being introduced in the state assembly would mandate its use for all hospitals in the sta... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642570 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:37:26 +0100 4642570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4237866&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FHF-NXMeGRsk%2F Politico reports the "doc fix" would be paid for by changing a provision of the health-care law to raise an estimated $19.2 billion. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4237866 Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:44:06 +0100 4237866 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4133650&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FkJYrf3r4tKI%2F The AMA backed health-care overhaul legislation but was frustrated that a permanent fix to the payment formula for reimbursing physicians wasn't included. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4133650 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:18:13 +0100 4133650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025757&cid=t_233664_136_f&fid=39026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarolinemfr.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fpay-for-performance.html is a good idea. Right? I mean you do a job and they pay you. You do a job perfectly and they pay you more. How does that sound? It makes sense. But what about paying doctors for their performance? Well the problem is that its paying doctors for their performance with patients. So its not just the doctors that should be paid but perhaps the patients as well. Seriously, what if your health premiums were lower if you went for annual check ups and preventive tests such as mammograms and colonoscopies as scheduled? Also, if you had a condition, if you actually went for treatment as prescribed by your doctor?I think that people with health conditions which require monitoring - anything from diabetes and heart conditions to post surgical follow up - it is up to them to get the treatment prescrib... Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025757 Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:07:00 +0100 4025757 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018150&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FzYr6vZlUB4Y%2F About 33 million uninsured Americans are expected to enter the health-care system because of the new law. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018150 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:38:30 +0100 4018150 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018151&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FP93FZnvh8Ng%2F "Seven interrelated features," including an emphasis on primary care, may help explain Grand Junction's lower costs. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018151 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:27:52 +0100 4018151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3999044&cid=t_233664_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F09%2F24%2Fmental-health-stigma-still-prevalent%2F Two stories published in the past week by our news team gives me reason to be a little pessimistic about the gains we’ve made in terms of educating folks about mental health concerns. The first article entitled, Depression Stigma Higher in Medical Students, examined mental health attitudes amongst medical students — you know, those folks who should be the most open-minded about these disorders that have significant roots in the brain. Of course, from the title of the article, you already know the study’s findings. In a survey of 505 medical students, researchers found that not only do the future doctors have higher rates of depression than in the general population (not surprising, given the stress of medical school), but they have something a little less expected —... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3999044 Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:05:19 +0100 3999044 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3831333&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FlZe5ok126OQ%2F It's well-nigh impossible to conduct the type of study that would settle this question. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3831333 Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:16:18 +0100 3831333 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3813206&cid=t_233664_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F5rI_Z0KQBvU%2F An effort in Massachusetts to repeal a controversial law that prohibits drugmakers from giving gifts and meals to doctors and other healthcare professional has apparently ended. The provision, which had been contained in a proposed economic development bill, was removed during a legislative conference late Friday, according to two consumer groups that fought against repeal. The maneuver would appear to end a contentious battle over a law that upset doctors, and pitted various consumer and patient groups against restauranteurs and the pharmaceutical industry. The law, which you can read here and here, was passed two years ago and was seen as a way to limit undue industry influence over medical practice, but industry supporters argued the measure is hostile toward drugmakers (background here... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3813206 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:49:09 +0100 3813206 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3621959&cid=t_233664_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FHpBKrixmcew%2F Surprising health benefits of dark chocolate promoted to healthcare professionals – alternate to antioxidants in alcohol. Doctors, dietitians and nutritionists are being promoted the health benefits of dark chocolate in the new Switch to Dark campaign. A Switch To Dark campaign highlighting the health benefits of consuming small portions of dark chocolate has been launched in leading healthcare publications, which include the Australian Doctor and Medical Observer; the Dietitians Association of Australia as well as the "prescriber’s bible", MIMS. Emerging evidence suggests that dark chocolate is a surprisingly rich source of antioxidants which may contribute to some health benefits. "The evidence is there, that dark chocolate is a good alternative to milk choc... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3621959 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:50:00 +0100 3621959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3595563&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FPOCZGmUKHJg%2F A handful of doctors and a Panera Bread restaurant both tried out a pay-what-you-want pricing model -- but only one is keeping it. (Source: WSJ.com: Health Blog) WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3595563 Mon, 24 May 2010 19:54:55 +0100 3595563 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3522829&cid=t_233664_151_f&fid=35805&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Ftwelvestepfacilitation%2FwAgT%2F%7E3%2F1wDPZcis6gc%2F November 30, 2009 Nurses, doctors, dentists and other health professionals in California who are in treatment for alcohol and other drug problems will now be subject to stricter oversight and could be immediately removed from practice should they relapse, the Los Angeles Times reported. Health workers will now be required to take more than 100 drug tests during their first year in treatment. One positive drug test result will be enough to have a health professional be temporarily suspended from practice. All restrictions to licenses will be posted online for public access. The new standards were created by the state legislature last year to address the way recovery programs for doctors were being handled. The Medical Board of California ended its diversion program in 2008 after several a... Twelve Step Facilitation.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3522829 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:20:03 +0100 3522829 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3460134&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=34935&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicine.com.my%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D8486 The Star reports No compulsory Govt service for docs abroad for more than 10 years Malaysian doctors who have worked overseas for more than 10 years can now return to the country without having to undergo the three-year compulsory Government service. However, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the new ruling would only be applicable to those who had self-funded their own medical studies. The new ruling, aimed at attracting talented Malaysian overseas to return home, would not be applicable to those whose medical studies had been sponsored by the Government. It’s not a new “carrot” that the Government is dangling. It’s been bandied about in the press beofre as we mentioned in this post No more three year compulsory service for foreign based docs? back in ... Malaysian Medical Resources blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3460134 Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3460134 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3382789&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FSA2xrX3s08E%2F One of the most contentious front lines in the health-care cost wars is between hospitals and private insurers. That battle zone has gotten particularly hot in recent contract negotiations over reimbursement rates that hospitals are demanding from the insurers. “We’ve never seen the kind of increases we’re seeing right now” from hospitals, Aetna President Mark Bertolini says in a WSJ article this morning. From a typical rate increase of about 5% five years ago, he says Aetna this year has granted rate increases of more than 20% to 50 hospital operators the insurer considered “must have” choices to continue offering consumers. Hospitals say that low Medicare rates and cuts to Medicaid are forcing them to cover their costs elsewhere and that more often mea... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3382789 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:13:07 +0100 3382789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3326957&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FMrkZczLKqks%2F Lots of health headlines this morning, most surrounding the Democratic overhaul efforts. Meanwhile, the Senate figured out a way to avoid crimping Medicare payments to doctors. President Obama kicked things off yesterday by saying he was open to a few cost-saving ideas that Republicans highlighted at last week’s bipartisan health summit. In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama proposed adding four GOP-backed items to the health-care mix that House and Senate Dems now are expected to put to votes later this month. Republicans weren’t mollified by the presidential gesture, saying adopting a few of their ideas wasn’t enough to rectify the nearly $1 trillion overhaul package. Obama is slated to speak more about the latest health-care push in remarks at the White House tod... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3326957 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:52:46 +0100 3326957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3262586&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fcy_FY3ceoa8%2F Now that it’s expanded health-insurance coverage to nearly all of its citizens, Massachusetts is trying to figure out what to do about the rapid rise of health costs. The latest proposal comes from the state’s governor, Deval Patrick, who yesterday proposed a bill that would give the state the power to review — and, in some cases, reject — rate increases by doctors and hospitals. Here’s a key paragraph from the bill: Any contract under which provider payments increase by an amount in excess of the applicable Consumer Price Index for Medical Care Services shall be presumptively disapproved. The division may conduct a hearing on any contract that is presumptively disapproved and will approve or disapprove the contract based on its findings following the hearin... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3262586 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:04:26 +0100 3262586 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3212303&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FDrccL4AedXk%2F The CBO budget report released today says the growth in Medicare and Medicaid spending during the next decade “will be somewhat slower than the average rate seen over the past 10 years.” Sounds too good to be true — and it almost certainly is. As is standard operating procedure for the CBO, its cost estimates build in savings that are planned under current law. In the case of Medicare, CBO’s calculation of a slowdown in Medicare growth includes a substantial 21% cut in payments to doctors now slated to go into effect in March. Those Medicare payments to docs were supposed to be cut on Jan. 1, but Congress passed a two-month patch to delay the cuts. In fact, they’ve been scheduled to go into effect every year since 2003, but Congress typically balks, pushing the effective dat... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3212303 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:26:42 +0100 3212303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3145947&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FJthsdzjBNqI%2F The health-care bills passed by both the House and the Senate would both expand Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor. One important difference between the bills: The House version would significantly boost Medicaid payments to primary-care docs, while the Senate bill would not. This difference — highlighted in this New Republic piece — isn’t on the short list of things everybody’s talking about as the Senate and House hash out a final bill. But it’s important for people with Medicaid and the doctors who treat them, as well as for the taxpayers who would have to fund higher Medicaid payments. Medicaid typically pays significantly less than Medicare, which in turn tends to pay less than private insurance. As a result, lots of docs say they los... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3145947 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:20:29 +0100 3145947 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3120614&cid=t_233664_151_f&fid=35805&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwelvestepfacilitation.com%2Fstricter-sobriety-standards-for-california-health-professionals%2F November 30, 2009 Nurses, doctors, dentists and other health professionals in California who are in treatment for alcohol and other drug problems will now be subject to stricter oversight and could be immediately removed from practice should they relapse, the Los Angeles Times reported. Health workers will now be required to take more than 100 drug tests during their first year in treatment. One positive drug test result will be enough to have a health professional be temporarily suspended from practice. All restrictions to licenses will be posted online for public access. The new standards were created by the state legislature last year to address the way recovery programs for doctors were being handled. The Medical Board of California ended its diversion program in 2008 after several a... Twelve Step Facilitation.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3120614 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:18:11 +0100 3120614 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3111388&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F7RNYuOCAo6c%2F President Obama signed a big defense spending bill into law yesterday. With all the hollering over the health-care overhaul, that didn’t get much attention. But, as we noted on Friday, the defense bill contains a few key health-care provisions. For one thing, it re-sets the shot clock on a 21% Medicare pay cut for doctors. The cut was supposed to take effect on Jan. 1; the bill pushes it back by two months. Blocking the cuts has bipartisan support, but Congress has to figure out how to come up with the extra money. They’ll try to do that early next year. The bill also extends government subsidies for Cobra insurance, a program that allows workers to keep their employer-sponsored health insurance after they lose their job. This WSJ story explains the extension in detail. Meanwhi... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3111388 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:18:54 +0100 3111388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3111390&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FJv4F5ZHS2zU%2F The AMA came out in favor of the Senate health-care bill today. The support comes just after the Senate hammered out a major compromise that means the bill is almost certain to pass. A few weeks back, the AMA sent a letter to Harry Reid, outlining the provisions it supported and opposed. At least one of the provisions the group had a problem with — the tax on elective cosmetic surgery — has been dropped in the latest iteration of the bill. And the letter the AMA sent today highlights a few tweaks the group still seeks, including changes to the independent board that would be created to slow the growth of Medicare costs. On Sunday, the American Hospital Association sent its own letter to Reid, saying it backed the latest version of the bill. The group (like the AMA) had opposed ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3111390 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:11:15 +0100 3111390 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3104986&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FZzqMLcboblg%2F There are a few noteworthy health-care provisions buried deep within the $626 billion defense spending bill the Senate’s expected to pass this weekend. The bill would block a planned 21% Medicare pay cut for doctors that’s set to take effect on Jan. 1. But the block would only last for two months — enough time, presumably, for Congress to put a longer-lasting block in place. For more on this subject, see the post we wrote earlier this week, after the bill passed the House. Another provision would extend subsidies for Cobra, the program that allows workers to temporarily keep their employer-sponsored insurance after they leave their jobs. Cobra coverage tends to be expensive (the worker is on the hook for the whole premium), but under the stimulus bill that passed early t... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3104986 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:23:42 +0100 3104986 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096823&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FWc-jXgI_oDY%2F All year, Congress has been trying to figure out what to do about the 21% cut in Medicare payments to doctors that’s set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010. The latest legislative maneuver would block the cut — but only for two months. That short-term patch is tucked inside a big defense spending bill the House passed today. Astute readers of the Health Blog will recall that the House already passed a bill that would get rid of the Medicare payment formula that calls for the pay cut. So what’s the House doing monkeying around with a two-month patch? A Senate bill to get rid of the payment formula failed in October, largely because of the $247 billion price tag associated with scrapping the pay cuts. At the time, Harry Reid said the Senate was likely to go back to the “o... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096823 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:38:41 +0100 3096823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3056610&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fng0gIfWDjUQ%2F Here’s a quick roundup of what some big doctors’ groups have been saying this week about the Senate health-care bill: The AMA took the middle ground, supporting some provisions and opposing others. The group backs the bill’s push to expand health-insurance coverage, and to cut subsidies to privately administered Medicare plans, among other things. The AMA opposes the creation of an independent board that could slow the growth of Medicare costs, a tax on elective cosmetic surgery and limits on physician-owned hospitals, among other provisions. The AMA notes that the Senate bill would block the Medicare pay cuts to doctors set to take effect in January, but the group is calling for the Senate to go further and pass a permanent repeal of the underlying payment formula. Here&... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3056610 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:43:30 +0100 3056610 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044723&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F_UIzaj5ecm4%2F One in five Medicare patients winds up back in the hospital within a month of being discharged. At least some of these readmissions could be prevented with proper follow-up care; as part of the big health-care overhaul, Congress is likely to create financial incentives to push hospitals to lower readmission rates. But, as an M.D. points out in an essay in this morning’s New York Times, practicing docs — not hospital execs — decide whether to admit patients to the hospital. And under the current system, doctors can bill every time they visit a hospitalized patient. So it makes sense to give doctors as well as hospitals a financial incentive to lower readmission rates, argues Sandeep Jauhar, a Long Island cardiologist. Doctors could help lower readmission rates by seeing pa... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044723 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:29:16 +0100 3044723 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3033579&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FIYvmTOVGMZk%2F With the medical establishment warning of a looming shortage of primary-care docs and general surgeons, Sen. Chuck Schumer is getting ready to introduce an amendment to the Senate health-care bill that would add 2,000 new medical residency slots, the WSJ reports this morning. But adding residency slots may not be enough to guarantee enough primary-care doctors and general surgeons. Medical residencies, the clinical training programs docs go through after med school, are a key driver of physician supply in America. And since residencies are funded through Medicare, the federal government is a key player in determining doctor supply. But doctors who go through residencies in fields such as surgery and internal medicine often choose do further training in a sub-specialty, rather than practice... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3033579 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:49:40 +0100 3033579 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3003759&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2Frrn6KHmheDw%2F The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force unleashed a tsunami this week with new breast cancer guidelines that are suspiciously timed to current efforts to rein in burgeoning healthcare costs. Indeed, the recommendations appear to be geared towards reducing overtreatment by eliminating what the Task Force considers unnecessary follow up screenings and tests. The recommendations even suggest the breast self-examination (BSE) should be discontinued. In essence, what the Task Force concluded was that while screening reduces deaths from breast cancer, it does not save enough lives to justify associated costs. To exacerbate the controversy, the American Cancer Society has publicly stated that it does not endorse Task Force recommendations and in a detailed analysis suggested that in the review of... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3003759 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:52:09 +0100 3003759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3003718&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FRjTlaBuLE5M%2F The furor following the latest breast-screening recommendations shows no signs of losing steam, with the political fallout coming in for attention today. If you have missed it, a federal advisory panel Monday said evidence showed only women aged 50 to 74 need routine mammograms every other year and breast self-examinations shouldn’t be taught. The panel’s evaluation of breast-cancer screenings is the kind of thing intended to become a core element under the health-care overhaul moving through Congress, the Chicago Tribune reports. Studying treatments to rate their benefits is the mission of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that issued the mammogram report, and such examinations are key to improving quality and cutting costs in the U.S. health-care system, backers of the ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3003718 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:19:00 +0100 3003718 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3003720&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FJc7ZmoFqYmI%2F The House health-care bill has caps on how much health-insurance policies can require consumers to pay out of pocket. But there’s an exception in the fine print: balance billing. Balance billing typically happens when a patient goes to a doctor who doesn’t participate in their insurer’s provider network. The insurer generally pays the doctor a share of what it considers the “usual and customary” rate. But this is often significantly lower than the amount that the doctor is charging. The doctor then bills the patient for the difference. The issue has gotten attention from regulators and consumer advocates in states including California and New York, mostly focused on situations where consumers inadvertently used out-of-network providers, and then were surprised at the bills. This... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3003720 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:55:25 +0100 3003720 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2977256&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F6r7OqI32mXo%2F Doctors unhappy with provisions missing or included in the current health legislation failed to get the American Medical Association to rescind its support for the House version of the overhaul bill. After spirited debate in Houston at an interim policy-making meeting, the AMA’s House of Delegates yesterday voted to “reaffirm the AMA’s commitment to health system reform.” Here’s the story from the Associated Press. The vote amounted to a validation of AMA’s president, J. James Rohack, who came under intense criticism Thursday when he announced the organization’s support of the House health bill, which passed on Saturday night. “The time to make health system reform a reality is now,” Rohack said in a statement after the vote. Rohack reiterated, however, that the House legisl... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2977256 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:33:11 +0100 2977256 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2973900&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FbFRnA5dBRm0%2F A battle is brewing in Houston today as the American Medical Association considers whether to rescind the support it gave last week to the health-overhaul bill that passed the House on Saturday night. Some physicians are fuming that the AMA backed the House bill despite the fact that the proposed legislation lacks elements like medical malpractice reform and a solution to deep Medicare cuts to physician reimbursements expected next year. In addition, many doctors oppose the House measure’s option for a government-sponsored health insurance plan. The AMA’s support of that bill “should be removed and AMA should give a list of specific AMA policies they would support in a bill,” said Donald J. Palmisano, a former AMA president. “Don’t give a blanket endorsement to a specific bill that... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2973900 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:52:06 +0100 2973900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2973901&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FchmUPqN0olw%2F The House of Representatives kept busy this weekend, narrowly passing the big health-care bill late Saturday. You probably know that already; if you need to catch up on your reading, here’s a primer on what the bill would do, and here’s the bill itself. Now it’s back to the Senate, where the big news this week is likely to be the CBO’s estimates of the bill that Dem leader Harry Reid has been putting together. Those estimates are expected in the next few days. Still unresolved: The 21% cut to the rate Medicare pays doctors, scheduled to take effect next year. House Dems shifted their plan to permanently block those cuts into a separate bill. But that bill didn’t come up for a final vote this weekend; that vote could come in a week or so, after Congress gets b... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2973901 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:05:49 +0100 2973901 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2967268&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FemAkXwOmzl4%2F Sorry about all those exclamation marks in the headline. But there’s lots of action in DC today, what with the House set to vote on the big health-care bill this Saturday. The AMA came out in favor of the House bill today. Not a huge surprise, given the group’s endorsement of the health-care bill introduced in the House earlier this year. Still, the new version of the legislation splits a provision about Medicare payments to doctors — a $250 billion provision dear to the AMA’s heart — into a separate bill. The AMA’s president called for the two bills to be passed together. The AARP backed the two bills as well. President Obama made a cameo appearance at a routine press briefing to tout the endorsements. He said he was “extraordinarily pleased and g... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2967268 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:46:36 +0100 2967268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2958990&cid=t_233664_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fdo-you-have-to-like-your-doctor-in-a-life-of-chronic-pain%2F If there is one area of life those of us with chronic disease or daily pain know all about, it’s doctors. Some of us have the benefit of experience from a background in medicine. For others, you just get one whale of an education by going from doctor to doctor. How important is it, in your opinion, to like the doctor who treats you? We often elect our politicians based on their affability, their charm, their ability to give a crowd stirring speech. In my career as a nurse I’ve met many doctors who would have made interesting politicians, however effective or ineffective they would be in the follow through. In fact, there are quite a few doctors already serving in Congress. I’ve known doctors, both male and female who are sincerely devout healers. During the last swine flu outbreak in... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2958990 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:15:12 +0100 2958990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2943756&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FAUjBqjOJThU%2F The big health-care bill House Dems backed earlier this year would have blocked planned cuts in Medicare payments to doctors. That provision is not part of the bill Nancy Pelosi rolled out today. But that doesn’t mean it vanished — the Dems just made it a separate bill, also released today. Here’s the bill; here’s a summary. Why bother creating a separate bill? Blocking the pay cuts will cost roughly $250 billion over 10 years. Getting rid of that provision lowers the cost of the big health-care bill. Of course, if the Medicare payment measure passes as a separate bill, the federal government will still be on the hook for the costs. This whole Medicare-pay-cuts-to-doctors thing is a long-running Washington saga, with frequent last-minute interventions from Congress... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2943756 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:00:26 +0100 2943756 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2939264&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FmomtwBkc_Uo%2F If Congress does create a new, government-backed health insurance plan, the plan will probably wind up paying doctors and hospitals at rates that are comparable to what private insurance pays. Liberal Dems in the House had been pushing a version of the public option with rates tied to Medicare, which typically pays less than private insurance. But some doctors and hospitals have said they lose money when they treat Medicare patients, and centrist Dems had balked at basing the new insurance program’s rates on Medicare. Under the bill Nancy Pelosi is rolling out today, doctors and hospitals would negotiate the rates they’re paid by the public insurance plan. The bill Harry Reid will bring to the Senate floor is also likely to include a public plan that would pay negotiated rates... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2939264 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:58:18 +0100 2939264 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2934649&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F_OQ_ikuoGFA%2F Comparison shoppers nationwide soon will be able to dig into a new mountain of patient-care cost numbers from the health insurance industry, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said today. A new database and Web site are being financed with nearly $100 million in settlement money that Cuomo is collecting from health insurers — he negotiated a bunch of big settlements based on the way companies calculated payments for visits to out-of-network doctors and hospitals. Cuomo said industry data was skewed to show lower care costs so insurers could underpay for out-of-network services. Cuomo said the consumer Web site will be designed to allow patients around the country to check in advance on how much they how much they are likely to be reimbursed by their insurer when they pay for out... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2934649 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:38:38 +0100 2934649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916077&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F8pLL4v33fbQ%2F The Senate just killed that bill that would have blocked Medicare pay cuts to doctors. All of the Republicans opposed the bill, along with a handful of Dems. But that doesn’t mean the looming 21% pay cut is going to take effect next year. Instead, Congress will likely do what it almost always does: Pass another short-term fix that blocks the pay cuts for the immediate future but leaves in place plans for future cuts. As Harry Reid said today: “Right now, we’re going to a one-year fix.” Sure, it might make sense to get rid of the underlying payment formula that keeps driving these planned pay cuts — especially because both Democrats and Republicans oppose cutting Medicare payments to docs. But getting rid of the formula would add $247 billion in federal spend... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916077 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:07:07 +0100 2916077 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2898916&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FTBiyo3AlRSQ%2F A bill introduced in the Senate this week would block the 21% Medicare pay cut for doctors scheduled to take effect for doctors next year. Blocking the cut would increase the government’s costs by more than $200 billion over the course of a decade. Loyal Health Blog readers know all too much about the sustainable growth rate, the mechanism Congress adopted in the 1990s to try to ensure that the amount the Medicare pays for annual doctor care of each beneficiary doesn’t grow faster than the overall economy. Obviously, it didn’t work. Doctor costs per beneficiary have shot up along with the rest of health care spending. Under SGR, when overall spending on doctor care increases in this way, the amount doctors get paid for each service is supposed to go down. But Congress has... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2898916 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:29:21 +0100 2898916 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2898925&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZE8sgxC9zbI%2F Yes, you read that right.  And I had to do the same sort of double-take when I read David Broder’s op-ed in The Washington Post this morning. Broder writes, “Obama has steered the enterprise to the point that odds now favor a bill-signing ceremony.  But the hardest choices still lie ahead….”  Whaa??  How can the odds be better than 50-50 if the biggest fights haven’t even happened yet? Broder’s optimism continues, “Two things will be needed to reach [a majority in the House and 60 votes in the Senate]: first, a plausible plan for making affordable and comprehensive health insurance available to millions…. And second, a way of financing the coverage….”  But that’s been the whole challenge all along.  Is Broder actually ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2898925 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:12:57 +0100 2898925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2879387&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F9GV5LzGBeX0%2F The Senate Finance Committee’s health-overhaul bill leaves in place a planned 25% cut in Medicare payments to doctors in 2011. Congress probably won’t allow this to happen; lawmakers will likely swoop in, as they’ve done repeatedly in recent years, and block the planned cuts. But when CBO does its projections, it doesn’t take into account what Congress is likely to do — it looks only at the laws as written. That means that the much-discussed CBO estimates for the Senate Finance bill will only hold true if Congress allows the cuts in Medicare payments to doctors to go through. CBO said as much in its estimate this week, writing: The … mechanism governing Medicare’s payments to physicians has frequently been modified (either through legislation or adminis... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2879387 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:07:28 +0100 2879387 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2862461&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FIEZnfztJ_Kk%2F The story so far in Massachusetts: State implements near-universal health insurance coverage; costs rise sharply; state panel calls for replacing fee-for-service payments with fixed, per-patient payments. The latest development: Doctors’ and hospital groups have been warning state officials that ending fee for service within five years, as the panel recommended, could cause havoc in the state health-care system, the Boston Globe reports. “It can’t be forced on everyone,” the president of the Massachusetts Medical Society told the Globe. “You’ll force [doctors] out of business.” The CEO of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, who was on the panel that proposed the new payment system, called for certain protections for doctors and hospitals. She also s... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2862461 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:06:50 +0100 2862461 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2855537&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fy8iCO5SOJEs%2F Paying doctors and hospitals for high-quality care, rather than for volume of care, is central to slowing the growth of health costs, lots of health wonks say. But figuring out how to do that is really tough. Latest example: A provision in the health-care bill being endlessly kicked around the Senate Finance Committee would reduce Medicare payments to doctors who order the most tests and treatments for their patients. Not a popular provision among doctors! The provision does adjust for severity — that is, it recognizes that doctors with sicker patients will order more tests and treatments. But docs are skeptical of such adjustments. “Those things are very imperfect, imprecise and they depend on data that often doesn’t really reflect what’s going on,” one doc t... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2855537 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:24:28 +0100 2855537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2757722&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FEyn90rCbTOQ%2F Boston Scientific showed that its $30,000 devices that slow heart deterioration, called cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators, produced clinical benefit in a 1,820-patient clinical trial, according to results published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. The company announced in June that the study, known as MADIT-CRT, demonstrated that the resynchronizers reduced hospitalizations, but these complete results showed the devices were even more effective than earlier reported, according to the WSJ. But an accompanying editorial in today’s NEJM asks whether expanded CRT use in patients with heart failure is cost effective. Mariell Jessup of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, points out that despite evidence that patients with certain types of hear... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2757722 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:21:42 +0100 2757722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2744058&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FRbJxW9Z-O08%2F Deep into Congress’s August recess, here is some of the latest on health care reform: Claims that health reform will be disastrous for businesses and government are wrong, writes Gary Locke, the U.S. secretary of commerce in an op-ed in the WSJ. Making his case for reform, Locke says that climbing health care costs already cost American businesses jobs and revenue, as well as entrepreneurship, and that isn’t sustainable. “In the short term, health-care costs pose a major problem for companies and their employees,” writes Locke. “In the medium and long-term, these costs pose serious challenges to our economy.” Health insurers wonder how they’ve become the villains in the reform debate, according to the New York Times. Some reasons that employees at ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2744058 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:26:50 +0100 2744058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2730053&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FPNo4WlHnSX0%2F Is it time to roll back the clock? House calls by primary care physicians may be a money saver in some cases, according to the Los Angeles Times. One main benefit of this strategy, which we’ve written about before here and here, is that closely monitoring these patients can reduce expensive hospital admissions. The LA Times details the experience of a team of docs in Richmond, Va., who visit about 275 patients — most with multiple medical conditions — once a month. Visits to these home-bound patients can turn up everything from a typical urinary tract infection to an emergency situation that requires an ambulance. But even if it may save money in the long-run, the up-front costs are expensive: Medicare pays for about half the program’s $1 million price tag, and the... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2730053 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:40:35 +0100 2730053 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2691461&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FChjmwphly8I%2F In his town-hall meeting today, President Obama hit on the familiar theme that there is a “severe shortage” of primary care physicians. “Primary care physicians, they make a lot less money than specialists,” he said. “[O]ne of the things we can do is to reimburse doctors who are providing preventive care and not just the surgeon who provides care after somebody is sick.” He also called for “helping pay for medical education for those who are willing to go into primary care.” Of course, we’ve all heard this sort of thing before. What do the two big health-care bills introduced so far this year in Congress actually do to address these issues? Deep in the 1,018-page House bill (p. 879) is a description of a “primary care training an... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2691461 Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:53:47 +0100 2691461 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2653680&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FPautPNdMPsk%2F Concern over Medicare is one theme of this morning’s health-reform coverage. Here are a few highlights: Seniors are worried about cuts to their Medicare benefits as a result of calls for reduced Medicare spending, reports the New York Times and WSJ. Members of AARP met with the president last night to discuss their concerns about seniors’ ability to continue to get costly services, like hip replacements. Obama tried to reassure them that the goal of cuts — the House bill proposes to reduce Medicare spending by $246 billion over the next decade — is to reduce wasteful Medicare spending, not benefits, notes the WSJ. Doctors’ groups don’t like the idea of an independent commission that would set the size of Medicare payments to health-care professionals, re... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2653680 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:58:37 +0100 2653680 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2637788&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FIURf75moqOM%2F Everybody’s got something to say about health reform, but nobody’s speaking up for the art of medicine, Abraham Verghese argues today in a Wsj.com column. Many doctors’ groups and academic medical centers are too deeply entrenched in the business of medicine to speak up for the field’s noblest intentions, writes Verghese, a novelist, Stanford prof and practicing physician. And he makes a case that a payment system that encourages doctors to practice the kind of medicine that leads to real relationships with patients could be more efficient in the long run: A physician who gets to know the patient can discuss difficult subjects such as end-of-life care while the patient is still relatively healthy — often sparing them the pain and huge expense of spending thei... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2637788 Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:14:09 +0100 2637788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2613842&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FHOZzueOMhDc%2F One of the much-discussed drivers of the high cost of health care in the U.S. is that doctors are paid for every procedure and test, which gives a financial incentive to provide more and more treatments, even if they aren’t strictly necessary. That system could change drastically in Massachusetts, as the state struggles to pay for its universal health insurance plan. A Massachusetts commission yesterday recommended that the state shift its payment method from the ubiquitous “fee for service” formula to one where health-care providers would be grouped into networks and paid a flat monthly or annual fee. Here’s the WSJ story. The goal is to improve care while reducing costs by forcing health-care providers to work within a budget and coordinate care between providers,... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2613842 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:22:22 +0100 2613842 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2610897&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FyjoZaxyPIg0%2F Tucked into the depths of the 1,018 pages of the House health care bill is $125 million to fund a program that looks at the medical home. In a medical home, a primary care provider (such as a family doctor, internist, pediatrician or nurse practitioner) gets paid to serve as the main point of contact for a patient and coordinate care among specialists and other community resources. That kind of thing often doesn’t get paid for in the current reimbursement system. And better coordination might improve patients’ quality of care and save money, for instance, by reducing redundant lab tests. (Though some efforts to improve coordination have failed to save money.) But medical home pilot projects have been around for a while now. And in the context of a bill expected to cost $1 tril... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2610897 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:03:18 +0100 2610897 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2580194&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FHj-Mze4JLds%2F Some familiar subjects are worth revisiting — like the fact that paying doctors for every test and procedure they do provides an incentive to do more tests and procedures. Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist, reflects on the subject in an essay in this morning’s New York Times. Jauhar’s main job, at academic medical center, gives him a bit of a buffer against the financial pressures faced by docs in private practice. But he recently began moonlighting on Saturday mornings at a private practice, and the new gig is a stark reminder of the way medicine is a business — and the business does better when doctors do more tests. He writes: A patient comes in with chest pains. It is hard not to order a heart-stress test when the nuclear camera is in the next room. Palpitations? ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2580194 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:35:02 +0100 2580194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570399&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fr9o3ZacEwMI%2F The agency that runs Medicare today suggested making an obscure accounting change that could make it easier for Congress to change how Medicare pays doctors. The issue goes back to a law passed in the 1990s that was supposed to ensure that the amount Medicare paid doctors for each beneficiary grew no faster than the overall economy. That didn’t happen. (The law created something known as the “sustainable growth rate,” or SGR, in Washington jargon). So now there are two different worlds. There’s the official world, in which doctors are scheduled to get a 21.5% pay cut from Medicare next year under SGR. And then there’s the real world, where Congress will intervene at the last minute to block the pay cut, as it’s done time and again in recent years. There... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570399 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:17:33 +0100 2570399 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477551&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FLQQG1eVmbPs%2F In a speech before the American Medical Association today, President Obama pushed his health-reform agenda, defending his push for a public health-insurance option and speaking in favor of a payment system that rewards doctors for the quality of care they provide rather than the quantity. And in what drew the biggest round of applause from the audience, he gave a nod to the idea that the medical-malpractice system needs to be changed — though he also said he wasn’t for capping malpractice awards. Obama acknowledged that doctors had “legitimate concerns” that a public health-insurance plan would mean they would be paid Medicare rates, which they feel are too low. But he said those concerns could be “overcome,” and that reform would mean docs are paid &#82... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477551 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:42:44 +0100 2477551 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477542&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fcy8wOcJPGRw%2F Columnist Robert J. Samuelson, writing in this morning’s Washington Post: It’s hard to know whether President Obama’s health-care “reform” is naive, hypocritical or simply dishonest. Probably all three. The president keeps saying it’s imperative to control runaway health spending. He’s right. The trouble is that what’s being promoted as health-care “reform” almost certainly won’t suppress spending and, quite probably, will do the opposite… The president summoned the heads of major health-care groups representing doctors, hospitals, drug companies and medical device firms to the White House. All pledged to bend the curve. This is mostly public relations. Does anyone believe the American Medical Association can control t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477542 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:02:54 +0100 2477542 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452401&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FSpCfnAJ_d1w%2F When there are too many medical specialists in one region, Medicare costs go up — but patient satisfaction, quality of care and convenience remain the same, according to Peter Bach, a pulmonary specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in an op-ed in the New York Times. For example, New York City has twice as many specialists per 100,000 residents as Albany in update New York. Medicare spends $12,114 a year per patient in New York City but only $5,950 in Albany. A simple solution to the overpayment problem would be to use a bidding system, he says. Here’s how: Start by offering doctors a reimbursement rate per patient lower than the current rate and see how many sign up. If enough do, Medicare has saved itself and taxpayers a lot of money. If not enough do, up the b... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452401 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:22:52 +0100 2452401 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2447464&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F0vY4yPGuAos%2F Today we get a follow-up to last month’s rather vague promise from a kitchen sink of health-care players to slow the rise of costs in the coming decade. Here’s today’s letter from (deep breath) AHIP, the AMA, the American Hospital Association, AdvaMed, PhRMA and SEIU. It’s the latest sign that, in public at least, everybody’s still on board with this whole health-reform thing. The letter starts out with an overview of the familiar stuff they all agree on — better management of chronic diseases, streamlining insurance claims, that sort of thing — then gets into specific proposals from each group. A sampling: AHIP, the health insurance trade group, calls for standardizing and automating a bunch of basic insurance functions, including “claims s... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2447464 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:43:29 +0100 2447464 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2414755&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F0NyOvWHPWuU%2F When we saw a story this morning about longer waits to see dermatologists, ob-gyns and orthopedic surgeons for non-urgent appointments in Boston, the first question that came to mind was whether Massachusetts’ universal health-coverage program had anything to do with it. It’s a likely factor, the Boston Globe reports. Expanded access to health insurance means more people have the financial means to heading to specialists to get care. Waits have gotten longer to see primary-care physicians as well. But the answer also isn’t that simple. Long waits to see doctors have been an issue for years in Boston, the Globe notes. Many specialists in the city work for large academic medical centers and don’t see patients full time. “We have an enormous emphasis on research... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2414755 Fri, 15 May 2009 14:02:35 +0100 2414755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2380744&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FxpC3R8er7CQ%2F The Senate Finance Committee, one of the key players in health care, spent yesterday behind closed doors hashing out reform options. This outline gives an overview of what they were talking about, and there’s plenty of interesting stuff. One element that caught our eye: A proposal to add a 5% bonus to Medicare payments for primary-care docs. General surgeons who practice in rural areas where surgeons are scarce would also qualify. There’s pretty widespread agreement that we need more primary-care docs, and more general surgeons practicing in certain rural areas. And it’s reasonable to assume that that narrowing the payment gap between primary care and specialty medicine (and between general surgery and surgical subspecialties) is a good way to encourage more young docs ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2380744 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:22:55 +0100 2380744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2365355&cid=t_233664_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FbRMTv8qUwn4%2Fmedical-care-isnt-that-important.php As we review the various issues involved in health care reform, let's stop and note the incredible power that we have over our own health outcomes. From the Brookings Institute: What we eat and drink, how often we exercise, where we live and work, and how we nurture our children matter much more to health than doctors and hospitals. An estimated 60 percent of early deaths are caused by behavioral,... (Source: Diabetes Daily) Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2365355 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:00:00 +0100 2365355 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2356886&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FmCJgAmDIrYQ%2F Lots of patients are getting tests and treatments they don’t need — I’m just not one of them. And my own doctor certainly isn’t part of the problem. That seems to be the attitude of respondents to a poll of 1,238 adults out from the Kaiser Family Foundation, NPR and the Harvard School of Public Health. It’s a sign that doctors have a sharp arrow in their quiver when it comes to shaping reform of the health-care system: The public trusts them. Asked whether it was a “major problem,” “minor problem” or “not a problem” with the U.S. health-care system that too many patients were getting tests and treatments they don’t really need, 49% of respondents chose “major problem” and another 39% called it a “mino... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2356886 Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:58:41 +0100 2356886 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2147953&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F2GGZ42iPG_I%2F When you pay doctors for every procedure they do, there’s an incentive for unnecessary treatments. There’s a financial reward for fixing problems that better care might have prevented. And there’s no incentive for doctors to prevent complications. On the other hand, few people want to go back to capitation — paying a single, annual fee for all of a patient’s care. That’s been criticized for leading to undertreatment. So a lot of powerful people are looking toward a middle road: Paying a single, bundled fee for an “episode of care” such as a hip implant or a few months of treatment for cancer or a chronic disease. As a story in this morning’s WSJ notes, Tom Daschle, the man Obama’s picked to lead the health reform push, is a back... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2147953 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:47:57 +0100 2147953 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2017870&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F12%2F06%2Fdrug-dealers-busted-dont-even-spend-time-in-a-holding-cell%2F I’m glad I checked over at Philip’s first, so I didn’t make an ass out of myself by posting a long thing over this. Seroquel “off label” for depression and *gasp* knowing about serious side effects being kept quiet? Not AstraZeneca. Yeah, right. What gets me is, most of us already knew this stuff. Are the [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2017870 Sat, 06 Dec 2008 20:04:55 +0100 2017870 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2013691&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F12%2F04%2Fyeah-but%2F …does the average patient even know to check, or what it means? I’ll take this very sad example as a “no” “I don’t care at all. I really, truly don’t,” said Judith Ursitti of Dover, Mass., whose son, Jack, 8, has autism. “When I take Jack to a specialist, I research their level of knowledge and how [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2013691 Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:33:16 +0100 2013691 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1969049&cid=t_233664_105_f&fid=36199&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorz.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F11%2F18%2Fon-death%2F The deaths stop getting to you after a while. When you are a medical student you don’t think much about death. Like being sued it’s something that happens to other doctors. At first when people start dying you spend ages stewing - going over things again and again wondering what went wrong. What could I have done differently. I once called the coroner, almost in tears, because I was convinced I contributed to the death. The nice man from the coroner’s office calmed me down and explained that it wasn’t really my fault at all, and they weren’t going to do a post mortem because of my guilt trip. But the thing is, we, the medics, work with the people that aren’t fit for anything else, they have renal failure, liver fa... FtM Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1969049 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:20:13 +0100 1969049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1968871&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=34935&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicine.com.my%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D5303 You know, sometimes I have patients who surprise me by asking me to take care of myself. It’s a touching thought. After all we are the ones who are taking care of their health and illnesses. Science Daily features studies recently published in the BMJ which reminds us that Doctors Must Look After Their Health Too. Don’t think doctors are immune to stress and burn out. There are those who turn to substance abuse too, even though they should know better. In critical care (hat tip to Xiao Zhai for the link), an Age article tells of a Melbourne doctor who took his life as he could not cope with the stresses of post-graduate surgical training. It also deals with how the Australian system affects junior doctors in training. Now back to Malaysia. No doubt our junior doctors too face s... Malaysian Medical Resources blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1968871 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1968871 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1889058&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F10%2F20%2Fseroquel-scoring-snorting-for-science%2F I’m finally doing a followup series to “Seroquel Snorters, My New Best Friends” with the help of a guest reporter who chooses to be know as: SWIM (someone who isn’t me) *** Here’s my line of thinking: Seroquel, an atypical antipsychotic comes with some very serious side effects (diabetes, high blood pressure, liver problems, tardive dyskinesia, neuroleptic [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1889058 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:38:28 +0100 1889058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1816027&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F399741480%2F The health sector tends to be pretty resilient during economic downturns, because even in tight times, people generally make medical care a priority. But this year things aren’t quite hewing to past form. A number of indicators show that patients, pressed by a combination of economic woes and shrinking health benefits, have been cutting back on care. Here are some statistics offered in an article on page one of this morning’s WSJ: Prescriptions filled in the U.S. fell 0.5% in the first quarter and 1.97% in the second, compared with the same periods in 2007 — the first negative quarters in at least a decade, according to IMS Health. Despite an aging and growing U.S. population, the number of physician office visits also has been declining since the end of 2006. Between ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1816027 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:49:42 +0100 1816027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1806643&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F395555917%2F Pay doctors for every procedure they do, and you give them a financial incentive to perform unnecessary treatments. Pay them a set price per patient, and you create an incentive to deny needed treatments. So everybody in health care is trying to find a third way that — ideally — ties payments to high-quality care that manages to reduce unnecessary costs. In an essay in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard health economist Meredith Rosenthal lays out some of the experiments now underway. They include: The medical home model pays primary care providers to coordinate care for patients with chronic illness, and typically includes pay-for-performance bonuses for delivery of recommended preventive care. (Check out this accompanying essay by Dartmouth’s Eli... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1806643 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:04:21 +0100 1806643 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1791686&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F09%2F15%2Friddle-me-this-batman%2F How can you usually tell the difference between baby-bipolar disorder and  tantrums with some normal, childhood mischief tossed in? Watch the parents. They become unhinged.  They have no clue how to handle a defiant child.  They probably didn’t realize that brand of kid existed.  “What? you mean the time-out doesn’t just happen like magic how I [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1791686 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:06:08 +0100 1791686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1696540&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F361873044%2F Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick cracks down on drug reps (AP photo) Massachusetts is getting tough on drug and device reps. Over the weekend, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a broad health bill that requires drugmakers and medical devices companies to disclose any gifts to doctors worth more than $50, the Boston Globe reports. But wait, there’s more. The law, whose main purpose is to rein in soaring health spending in the state, requires the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester to increase class sizes to produce more primary care doctors. The law also gives state regulators the authority to call hearings when insurers want to hike rates. Even though Massachusetts has the most primary care docs per capita in the US, state Human Services Secretary Ju... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1696540 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:35:11 +0100 1696540 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1686198&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F08%2F06%2Fsend-your-old-meds-on-the-fly-to-save-a-life%2F If your medicine cabinet is like most people’s, it’s harboring all kinds of unused or outdated meds like antibiotics and pain-killers. Instead of dumping them in the trash or toilet, consider donating them to Flying Doctors or Aid for AIDS, where volunteer medical teams headed to Mexico or Central America will be able to make good use of them. While the meds may not be 100% potent or effective, the mere presence of any kind of medical intervention for those who have no other options may just save a life. A pretty great alternative to wasting, no? Thanks in advance for your consideration - this has been your Healthbolt feel-good Happy Living Tip of the day. Tags: Aid for AIDS, Donate Meds, Expired Medication, Flying Doctors, Health Blog, Healthbolt, Old MedicineShare This (Sour... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1686198 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:00:03 +0100 1686198 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1661084&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F348479961%2F Here’s one more sign that in health care, as elsewhere, money talks. Patients heading to dermatologists for Botox and other cosmetic procedures pay cash and often get the kind of treatment we’d all like at the doctor’s office: The office takes their calls, it’s easy to get an appointment and there’s quick and thoughtful follow-up after a procedure. Patients going for medical care covered by insurance — to have a mole checked out for signs of cancer, say — often find what we’ve come to expect from doctors: voice mail, long waits for appointments, and the like. This morning’s New York Times tells the story of a California dermatologist with two waiting rooms. There’s nothing wrong with the waiting room for medical patients, but it&... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1661084 Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:54:39 +0100 1661084 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1646553&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F343484567%2F Times are tough and some of Benjamin Brewer’s patients are choosing to skip medical care to pay for things like $4-a-gallon gas, he writes in his Doctor’s Office column. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) The irony in the situation is that the patients are choosing to put off preventive measures in an effort to save a few dollars, but the decision could end up costing them — and their insurance companies — a great deal of cash. One 59-year-old woman put off a mammogram this year and is also holding off on a colon cancer screening until she qualifies for Medicare. “If she develops cancer of the colon or breast she won’t have saved anything,” Brewer writes. “This year she is taking her chances.” Another patient who was suffering from pneumonia w... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1646553 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:46:28 +0100 1646553 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1639285&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F07%2F19%2Frampage%2F My heart is breaking guys. I hate to hear of anyone becoming acutely ill. I’m just hoping for the best. That he gets the care he needs and comes out of this as Quinton; and not some damn medicated zombie or someone forever lost. He seems like such a good guy. Dana White, on “a little” about Rampage’s mental [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1639285 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:20:41 +0100 1639285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1631820&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F335241955%2F Medicare has been trying to clamp down on burgeoning costs from medical imaging. But a new GAO report suggests the agency might have more success if it were to stop unnecessary CT scans, MRIs and the like before they happen in the first place. To cut imaging costs, Medicare has been cutting certain physician payments, sifting through its data to spot improper claims, and educating medical practitioners about the issue. But the GAO’s suggestions for Medicare include weighing a front-end tactic that’s common in the private health-insurance market: prior authorization. That’s when, for a patient to get coverage, an insurer has to give permission before something takes place. “We believe that post-payment claims review alone is inadequate to manage one of the fastest g... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1631820 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:16:14 +0100 1631820 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1543513&cid=t_233664_105_f&fid=36199&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorz.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F06%2F25%2Fon-targets%2F I’ve been thinking recently about targets. In general in the NHS it’s considered that ‘Targets’ are a bad thing. If for instance you have a pet loving Minister of Health set a target that all hospitals should see all people who have a pet dog at home within 33.3 minutes of arrival, then low and behold it will happen. Because that’s where the money will go. Now this is excellent for the people with dogs but not for the people with exotic fish who will be waiting for 3 hours 59 minutes in A and E with everyone else. Now take MRSA bacteriaemia - this is a bad thing. Of course so the government sets targets that hospitals should try and avoid it. So hospitals discover that if you don’t do blood cultures you... FtM Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1543513 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:28:49 +0100 1543513 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1538055&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F06%2F22%2Ftold-ya-so-told-ya-so%2F THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF BIPOLAR DISORDER 1.Thou shalt not blame everything on chemical imbalance. 2.Thou shalt avoid high places and sharp objects when on either extreme of the mood spectrum. 3.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s shiny trinkets. 4.Thou [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1538055 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:36:08 +0100 1538055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1469786&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F26%2Fdont-get-me-started%2F because, as AC would say (and I’ve claimed this as my own) “I’ve got no filter today.” Well, too late. This is long; and I’ve got points within points….*that or I’m just really tired* This began as a comment within a comment…Cat had made to the previous post of UM’s. Usually when I post about things like this, I’ll [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1469786 Mon, 26 May 2008 17:40:02 +0100 1469786 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1461055&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F21%2Fbeating-bipolar-naturally%2F An Albertan women says a controversial nutritional supplement gave her her life back. Autumn Stringam suffers from bipolar disorder. As Michelle Skerman reports, she is now sharing her story with others. They’re a picture perfect family, but the Stringam family in Coaldale, Alberta wasn’t always this idyllic. There is a video at the link below but I [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1461055 Thu, 22 May 2008 01:56:13 +0100 1461055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458984&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F294994369%2F Health wonks sometimes talk about bringing transparency to health care pricing as if it were a simple matter of pulling back the curtain to reveal hidden costs. But in many cases, pulling back the curtain reveals only a jumbled mess of complicated billing codes. As family doc and WSJ.com columnist Ben Brewer notes today: I’m required to provide a payment code for the level of service provided, with a higher rate for new patients compared with established patients. The complexity of the visit and the level of medical decision-making get coded, too. … Then I must code every drug or vaccine I gave in the office, using a separate number for each medicine and a different code if the nurse gave the injection. … Sometimes it feels like a giant shell game in which health plans ar... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458984 Wed, 21 May 2008 16:48:18 +0100 1458984 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1420711&cid=t_233664_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2F283896370%2F Larry Frohman, a neuro-ophthalmologist, is part of a dying breed. He often spends more than an hour with new patients, asking questions about their sight and performing dozens of low-tech tests. His diagnoses of vexing vision problems rely, in part, on how well patients can track the movement of his finger with the eye and whether they can identify shapes within a mosaic of differently colored dots. But taking meticulous medical histories and performing simple yet effective tests doesn’t pay as well as interpreting an MRI scans or wielding a scalpel. The insurance-reimbursement system, largely driven by Medicare’s reimbursement habits, tends to pay doctors the most for procedures such as surgery and diagnostic imaging, and a lot less for spending time with patients and doing th... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1420711 Mon, 05 May 2008 21:06:39 +0100 1420711 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1382421&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F04%2F18%2Fsorry-about-that%2F Two weeks ago I was at my neurologist’s office for my check-up. (I’ll leave out my trigeminal neuralgia rant on this guy for now) In the epilepsy department…he does okay. He talks a lot. He likes to visit. He’s actually a nice guy. I have more of a problem with his office (it’s way [...] (Source: bipolar chicks blogging) bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1382421 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:26:35 +0100 1382421 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1366730&cid=t_233664_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F268530736%2F Today at a hearing before the General Medical Council, Dr. Andrew Wakefield—-the doctor who is at the center of the controversy over the MMR vaccine—admitted that he had what the BBC terms a “poor grasp of the medical ethics surrounding work on children.” Dr. Wakefield faces being struck off the medical register in regard to “serious professional misconduct relating to investigations undertaken on 12 children between 1996 and 1998.” Among the allegations is a charge that he took blood samples from children at his son’s birthday party; the children were paid £5. According to the BBC, Dr. Wakefield said: “I’m perfectly willing to accept my understanding was wrong.” While Dr. Wakefield had received “parental consent,” he... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1366730 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:17:54 +0100 1366730 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1356505&cid=t_233664_129_f&fid=36038&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.healthtalk.com%2Fmultiple-sclerosis%2Flife-with-ms%2Fdoes-stress-make-my-ms-worse%2F If there is one word I hear in conversation about multiple sclerosis more oft than nearly any other, it’s “stress.” “Stress caused my MS,” “I need to avoid stress,” “When I get stressed…” This stress really seems (and I write “seems” for a reason) to have some serious, perceived effects on multiple sclerosis. I will be first in line to state that the weeks and months around my diagnosis would not be considered “low” on a civilian stress scale (let’s face it, police, fire, military and the like face stresses that would make us blush for calling our lives stressful). The thing is, I try to think of things as logically as I possibly can. Saying stress would have a negative impact on my MS just doesn’t make sense to me. Think about this: Pre-multiple scl... Life with MS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1356505 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:24:16 +0100 1356505 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1334510&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F03%2F28%2Fnegligent-or-ignorant%2F   I’m talking about our doctors. I can’t decide if the majority are ignorant and don’t educate themselves in the drugs they give or or if they are negligent and don’t give a rat’s ass what they give us. A patient goes to a psych doc with bipolar,depression,anxiety, etc. The doctor writes a ’script for the latest drug on the market (or the drug that is sold by the best bribing drug rep). The patient thinks, “Hmmm…..he has studied medicine for a long time and has been in practice for X number of years. He must know what he’s doing. So, I’ll trust that he is doing the right thing for me”. Said patient goes home and dutifully pushed the orange/red/yellow/pink/white/blue/green/capsule/pill, etc. down their throat on a regu... bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1334510 Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:28:09 +0100 1334510 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1325177&cid=t_233664_140_f&fid=35448&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseemedlikeagoodideathetime.com%2F2008%2F03%2F24%2Fspit-in-a-cup%2F Spit in a cup and find out if you are bipolar. What a load of bullshit! Home bipolar disorder test causes stirs By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 22, 4:23 PM ET SAN DIEGO - Dr. John Kelsoe has spent his career trying to identify the biological roots of bipolar disorder. In December, he announced he had discovered several gene mutations closely tied to the disease, also known as manic depression. Then Kelsoe, a prominent psychiatric geneticist at the University of California, San Diego, did something provocative for the buttoned-down world of academic medical research: He began selling bipolar genetic tests straight to the public over the Internet last month for $399. His company, La Jolla-b... bipolar chicks blogging blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1325177 Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:04:15 +0100 1325177 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=620239&cid=t_233664_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F117179595%2F Katherine McCarron died a year ago, on May 13th, 2006. Her mother, Dr. Karen McCarron, is alleged to have suffocated her daughter and to have attempted to overdose on Tylenol the next day; McCarron told police that she “‘wanted to end her pain and Katie’s pain.” She is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a homicidal death. According to testimony reported in the May 15th Peoria Journal-Star, McCarron appeared to be lucid and not delusional during a hospital stay from May 14 - May 16, 2006. Contradicting her apparent suicide attempt, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center doctors said McCarron, a doctor herself, was very concerned about her medical status. St. Francis medical resident Zachary You... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=620239 Wed, 16 May 2007 15:30:48 +0100 620239 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=571444&cid=t_233664_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F112236229%2F I was in more than the usual rush to get home last night because I was to participate in a conference call interview with Dr. Michael Weiss, a developmental psycologist in Connecticut; Dr. Robin Chernoff, a pediatric developmental specialist in Maryland; blogger Autism Diva; Kathleen Seidel of Neurodiversity; and Jan B of Just a Mom, That’s More Than Enough. Estée Klar-Wolfond of Joy of Autism and The Autism Acceptance Project and Madeline McEwen-Asker of Whitterer on Autism sent in questions as they were unable to attend. Early in the conversation, Dr. Weiss noted that, from reading our blogs (and I note we were all mothers) that—rather than him being the “expert” we were to post questions to, he thought it was the other way around. It was a pleasure and a privil... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=571444 Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:00:56 +0100 571444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=524706&cid=t_233664_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F107033409%2F Autism Speaks to merge with DAN!………. That is not true, or not yet true: It is a prediction I made half-seriously to a friend last week after I saw that Autism Speaks was promoting the Discover Magazine article on autism not being just in the head. “Autism Speaks congratulates these researchers for their important contributions to changing the way autism is conceptualized,” the Autism Speaks website noted, and then “It will only be through support of such innovative research [on ‘brain and non-brain systems’] that the causes and biological basis of autism will be resolved.” I had this statement in mind as I watched the new Autism Speaks video, A World Where….., with its absolutist pronouncements of “making autism a word for t... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=524706 Fri, 06 Apr 2007 06:47:25 +0100 524706