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 'health care'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:49:28 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181754&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiE-w4yBV7BI%2F By Ilya ShapiroOver the last year and a half, I’ve blogged many times about Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu, the controversial nominee to the Ninth Circuit, the federal appellate court with jurisdiction over the western states and territories.  Here’s an op-ed I published in the wake of that nomination — which happened to coincide with Obamacare’s enactment.  And here’s a taste of what I wrote when Republicans filibustered Liu, which ultimately led him to withdraw: I’m not going to weigh in here on the issue of whether judicial nominees ought to be filibustered in general . . . but if ever there were an “extraordinary circumstance” fitting into the Gang of 14agreement that broke the judicial logjam under President Bush, this is it. As I blog... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181754 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:42:28 +0100 5181754 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181736&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F09%2F01%2Fberwick-to-keynote-health-affairs-briefing%2F Don Berwick, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will keynote Health Affairs’ September 8 briefing on controlling health care costs. At the briefing, Health Affairs will release its September 2011 issue, “The New Urgency To Lower Costs.” Topics to be discussed include chronic disease costs and opportunities for savings through prevention; who bears [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181736 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:09:50 +0100 5181736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181737&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F31%2Fthe-challenges-of-payment-reform-and-administrative-simplification%2F As both a Canadian and an analyst who focuses on US healthcare, I have an abiding curiosity in comparisons between the US and Canadian systems, so it was with great interest that I read the recent Health Affairs article by Dante Morra and coauthors entitled “US Physician Practices Versus Canadians: Spending Nearly Four Times As Much Money [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181737 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:57:12 +0100 5181737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181771&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOQfxnCT1GtU%2F By Michael F. CannonHere are a few takeaways from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s most recent monthly poll. 1. Nearly Two Thirds of ObamaCare’s Supposed Beneficiaries Think It Won’t Help Them. ObamaCare‘s actual beneficiaries are politicians, government bureaucrats, insurance companies, drug manufacturers, etc.—but that’s another blog post for another time. The law’s supposed beneficiaries are the uninsured. Yet 61 percent of them think the law will either not help them or will hurt them (see pie chart below). The main takeaway: Congress can repeal ObamaCare and its supposed beneficiaries won’t even care.   2. Some of the Uninsured Who Think ObamaCare Will Help Them Are Wrong. One respondent said that under ObamaCare, you “can go to ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181771 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:56:48 +0100 5181771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181772&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLbNhcRAIVCE%2F By Michael F. CannonFrom time to time, I’ve posted Pollster.com’s trend estimate of all polls gauging public opinion on ObamaCare.  It’s a great little tool.  But recently, I noticed something. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s monthly tracking poll not only finds the most support for ObamaCare, but it also gets disproportionate weight in the Pollster.com trend estimate, simply because KFF polls the public on ObamaCare more frequently than others.  Since President Obama signed the law on March 23, 2010, KFF has polled this question more often than the next two most frequent polls combined.  That makes the gap between opposition and support smaller than it would be if KFF conducted its poll as frequently as other groups conduct theirs (or vice versa). To illustrate,... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181772 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:54:32 +0100 5181772 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181960&cid=t_99797_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FGFmRr9VJvx8%2F Chuck Podesta is Fletcher Allen Health Care’s chief information officer. ICD-10 would not be so daunting if the deadline was not occurring during the rush to get EHRs for meaningful use. Add in value-based purchasing, bundled payments and transitioning to ACOs, and you can see why many CIOs are retiring early or migrating to the vendor or consulting world. We are just over two years away from the October 2013 deadline, and there is much work to be done. ICD-10 contains 68,000 codes, as opposed to the 13,000 currently used in the ICD-9 world. There is a code for every condition that exists on the planet. The revenue cycle system, which includes registration, HIM and billing/AR, will be the lynch pin to ICD-10 readiness. Having a solid vendor partner and a strong product is key to a succ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181960 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:56:35 +0100 5181960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181790&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FFSpBgAwfDVs%2F By Mary Grealy. When we talk about people who don’t have access to healthcare, there’s a natural assumption that it’s because they can’t afford it.  A new study shows that’s not necessarily the case. According to the study published in the journal Health Services Research, 21 percent of American adults said they had delayed care for non-financial reasons compared to 19 percent that cited cost as the primary reason for not seeking healthcare. Those non-financial reasons included not being able to get to a doctor’s office during working hours, long commutes to the medical office, or not being able to get an appointment soon enough.  As the study’s lead author said, “In reality, there are all kinds of reasons why people can’t get the care they need when they need it.” Th... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181790 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:16:36 +0100 5181790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181751&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FQa2nPPR_42c%2F “Niche Blockbusters”: Pfizer’s newly approved lung-cancer therapy crizotinib, to be sold under the brand name Xalkori, represents a relatively new tack for the pharma giant: a drug aimed at a small group of patients with a serious disease whom tests show will likely benefit from the treatment, the WSJ reports. Drug makers can bring these potential “niche blockbusters” to market quickly and more cheaply than drugs aimed at a mass audience, and because the medical need is dire, insurers will pay up for them. Xalkori will sell for $115,200 per year. Asking the Uninsured: The Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest tracking poll finds only 31% of uninsured people think the health-care overhaul law will help them get coverage, NPR’s Shots blog reports. A full 37% of... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181751 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:20:05 +0100 5181751 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174613&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fafter-one-year-the-mayo-clinic-center-for-social-media-is-still-going-strong%2F2011.08.29 I’ve always been a great fan of what Mayo Clinic has been doing on social media. Then after Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media was launched, I became a member of the international external advisory board which I’m very proud of. I reported when they launched a patient community and also discussed how well they did this. Now the Center is 1 year old and still performs perfectly. An excerpt form their previous entry: Here’s a sneak peek of a few topics that were discussed during Mayo’s retreat: (more…) *This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174613 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:00:38 +0100 5174613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174692&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fputting-end-to-didnt-ask-didnt-tell.html This is a guest post from a clever medical student , Muthukar Ramanathan. If there are more like him, the future of medical practise holds a lot of promise ! ---------------- How many times have you felt that you forgot to mention something important after leaving your doctor’s clinic ? Unable to ask an embarrassing question or to did not remember to discuss your recent allergy? This familiar problem of "Didn't Ask Didn't Tell" among patients is due to multiple reasons - chiefly lack of recollection, stress or even laziness. But this inability to communicate well with physicians ultimately hurts patients due to incorrect diagnosis or treatment. As a medical student sitting as an observer in physician's office, I noticed that many times patients could not accurately provide much needed... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174692 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:59:00 +0100 5174692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174599&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1CUaz70JSQk%2F By Ilya ShapiroSCOTUSblog’s symposium on the constitutionality of Obamacare — to which I contributed, as did Bob Levy – provides a glimpse at the astonishing views of the law’s supporters.  It particularly shows how divorced the legal academy’s leading lights are not only from basic constitutional text and structure, but from jurisprudential reality. Most prominently, in responding to the Eleventh Circuit’s decision striking down the individual mandate (and to Richard Epstein’s symposium essay), storied Harvard professor Laurence H. Tribe criticizes the court for “reflecting what appears to be a widely held public sentiment” that Congress cannot “mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase o... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174599 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:45:41 +0100 5174599 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5169511&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fwill-hired-executives-let-healing.html Hospital - noun, 1.  a charitable institution for the needy, aged, infirm or young  2.  an institution where the sick or injured are given medical or surgical care, Merriam-Webster             - noun.  1.  an institution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for sick or injured people, Oxford DictionaryTwo recent NY Times articles raise concerns that changes in leadership may cause hospitals to stray from their original purpose.  Cook County Health and Hospitals SystemThe first NY Times article discussed leadership of Cook County Health and Hospitals System (in the Chicago, IL area). This is a public health system whose mission was traditionally "to serve Cook County... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5169511 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:20:00 +0100 5169511 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5169531&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtpVlZ8rFxyc%2F By Michael F. CannonThe federal government, four states, and a whistleblower have extracted a $154 million settlement from Par Pharmaceuticals for fraudulently inflating the prices it charges Medicaid, according to the Associated Press. With Medicare and Medicaid losing roughly $100 billion each year to fraud and other improper payments, however, the fact that a paltry $154 million settlement is news can only mean that federal and state governments are not even trying to combat fraud in any serious way.   As I explain in this video, that’s because politicians have almost zero incentive to do so — which makes massive amounts of fraud an inherent part of these programs: Under ObamaCare, Medicare and Medicaid fraud will only get worse. $154 Million Medicaid Fraud Settlement a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5169531 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:58:12 +0100 5169531 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158936&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FzFTVxpvSy4g%2F By Ilya ShapiroMy colleagues and I have covered the substance of the Eleventh Circuit ruling that two weeks ago struck down the individual mandate, but where do we go from here?  Why hasn’t the Supreme Court yet resolved the conflict between that ruling and the Sixth Circuit’s from earlier in the summer?  When will it do so?  A few points: The government is now likely to seek en banc review, meaning that they want the entire 10-judge court to review the 3-judge panel’s ruling.  It’s extremely unlikely that the Eleventh Circuit would grant such a motion because the panel is already 2-1 against and the members of the court not on the panel are a 4-3 Republican-appointed majority.  You need a majority (6 of 10) to get en banc review, which means the dissenting J... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158936 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:50:00 +0100 5158936 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158977&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FuWUbQhdO2ls%2F Yesterday, Healthcare IT News reported that a study due out later this month found that the addition of social media tools to online health programs seemed to positively influence the effectiveness of the programs. The study, which is being published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, found that “adding an interactive online community to an Internet-based walking program significantly decreased the number of participants who dropped out.” This is just the latest in eHealth innovations – from mobile health apps to electronic medical records and so, so, so much more – leaving the medical community wondering how eHealth will fare moving forward. How do you feel about health-related social networking? Would you join an online health program? What concerns – privacy, quality... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158977 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:15:49 +0100 5158977 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159351&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2FdflHJn4aeTM%2Fbundled-payments-for-care-improvement-initiative-announced-by-cms-center-for-innovation.html Many health care provider organizations have not been overly eager to jump onto the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) bandwagon, citing high startup costs and uncertain returns on investment given the complexity of the program.  Well, recently, the CMS Center for Innovation has announced the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement initiative.  This initiative incorporates elements of earlier CMS demonstration projects -- the gainsharing demos and ACE (acute care episode) bundled payments demonstrations which the HealthBlawger has helped a number of clients around the country qualify for in the past -- and builds on the broad authority granted to the CMS Center for Innovation under health reform. The advantages to proceeding with a Bundled Payment for Care Improvement project include the... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159351 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:17:08 +0100 5159351 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158921&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F24%2Fmedicares-looming-risk-transfer%2F Editor’s Note: Below, Jaan Sidorov analyzes the risk-shifting inherent in proposals for Medicare reform. Today, Health Affairs Blog is also publishing the first installment of a two-part post by Troyen Brennan and Thomas Lee, which addresses risk-shifting in the health care system as well. Suppose, despite my good health and lifelong habit of avoiding doctors, [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158921 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:53:07 +0100 5158921 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158922&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F24%2Frisk-shifting-in-health-care-and-its-implications-part-one%2F Editor’s Note: Below, in the first installment of a two-part Health Affairs Blog post, Troyen Brennan and Thomas Lee discuss the shifting of risk they see taking place in the health care system, from insurers and employers to provider and patients. In part two tomorrow, Brennan and Lee will discuss the implications of this shift [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158922 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:50:18 +0100 5158922 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158999&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fare-patients-considering-the-idea-of-medical-tourism-to-receive-health-care%2F2011.08.24 I must confess that I have a weakness for medical tourism. Patients have always been ready to go on a pilgrimage to find the world’s leading expert (we call it ‘key opinon leader’ now) hoping to find a cure. As long as traditional leaders in the field of Medicine have been the Germans, the French and the English -with some occasional Austrian and Spanish name in the mix- traffic of wealthy patients across Europe is nothing new. Since we entered the antibiotics era, these leaders started to be located mainly in the United States, the cradle of modern, technology-driven Medicine. Thus hi-tech centers got ready to welcome foreign patients, building strong International Customer Support departments. A random example -by no means the only one- would be the Mayo Clinic. On their website y... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158999 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:00:07 +0100 5158999 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159258&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fhow-can-we-get-patients-to-take-more.html It's extremely easy to criticize doctors for the sad state of health care today. Most patients are very articulate about the fact that their doctor spends very little time with them ; that he makes them wait unnecessarily for long hours ; and that he provides them with precious little information about their illness. This causes a lot of heartburn and frustration ; and many people believe that doctors are now behaving more like businessman rather than professionals. While there may be some truth in this criticism , it is also equally true that doctors are soft and easy targets. In fact , the press has played a major role in bashing doctors , and while it's true that stories about unethical doctors who indulge in corrupt acts help them to sell more newspapers , sadly all these stories also... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159258 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:38:00 +0100 5159258 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158860&cid=t_99797_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F22%2Fthe-future-of-cancer-networks-policy-recommendations-as-a-result-of-a-joint-seminar-held-at-the-kings-fund%2F Title: The future of cancer networks: Policy recommendations as a result of a joint seminar held at the Kings Fund Scan or click to download ‘The future of cancer networks: Policy recommendations as a result of a joint seminar held at the Kings Fund’ The Skinny: Report that recommends: Networks need to be strengthened by expanding and diversifying the mix of professionals involved, including primary care, community services, public health and social care Patients need to be involved through the creation of structures that are internal to the network A single clinical network (ie covering multiple clinical areas) is an option to meet the challenges posed by the current financial climate as it can generate efficiencies from sharing services and learning, and consistency ... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158860 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:52:02 +0100 5158860 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139647&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fbest-and-brightest-behaving-badly.html To err is human, and any group of humans can be expected to include those who stray.  However, the constant spin that surrounds most top leaders of health care organizations seems to suggest that these people are different.  In particular, the lavish compensation given leaders of health care organizations is often justified by claims that those in leadership positions are the best and the brightest.  Catching up after a vacation afforded me the opportunity to go through a large volume of news stories, leading to a collection of those from the last year that showed the contrast between such compensation and behavior that was far from the "best and the brightest. "North Memorial Health Care CEO Pleads Guilty to Engaging in ProstitutionAs reported by the Minneapo... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139647 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:02:00 +0100 5139647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139672&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F18%2Fimplementing-health-reform-informing-consumers%2F One of the most important innovations of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is that it dramatically increases and improves the information that consumers have available about health insurance and health care.  HHS has already implemented provisions of the ACA requiring insurers to disclose information regarding their medical loss ratios and to publicly justify unreasonable rate [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139672 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:49:06 +0100 5139672 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139606&cid=t_99797_85_f&fid=34967&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdocisinblog%2FwNlq%2F%7E3%2FkXBEdmSDhWU%2F As individuals and small groups, physicians have proved to be an independent lot — “herding cats” a common metaphor for getting the profession to toe the line, even on matters beneficial to them. Once they have been herded under one roof, however, the job of controlling and coercing them becomes far easier. Ever hear the term “ACO”? No? Better get familiar with it, because this is your future. Accountable Care Organizations are the government’s new carrot & stick to control costs and micromanage the health care profession and industry. Those of you who’ve been around a while may remember HMOs — the insurance industry’s innovation in the late 80′s to get control of spiraling health care costs. Using a mechanism called capitati... The Doctor Is In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139606 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:24:05 +0100 5139606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139689&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsxIfq6yuuwg%2F By Ilya ShapiroI’m glad Trevor Burrus took the laboring oar in pointing out highlights from an Eleventh Circuit opinion that, as he put it, “is not only exhaustive, it is convincing.”  I’ve been swamped with editing the Cato Supreme Court Review and preparing for our Constitution Day conference, so have had little time to put words on paper (or even on screen) after my initial statement. I did put together one op-ed, however, that ran today in Politico.  Here’s an excerpt: By [striking down the individual mandate], the court — including, for the first time, a judge appointed by a Democratic president — reaffirmed that the Constitution places principled limits on federal power. It rejected the government’s argument for a situational limit on Congress�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139689 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:42:10 +0100 5139689 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139745&cid=t_99797_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2F5sSY0OCxWR8%2F The Unites States appears to be falling behind other nations when it comes to providing affordable health care for its population (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139745 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 03:32:28 +0100 5139745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139679&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FrLMzI7Yssdo%2F Just as you might look at the label on the side of a cereal box to check its sugar content, starting next year you’ll be able to look at a summary of insurance-plan information to learn about the deductible or out-of-pocket spending limit — before you buy the policy. As the WSJ reports, the proposed summary form, which was part of the health-care overhaul law, could be unveiled as soon as tomorrow. It will be open to public comment before it’s finalized. (Update: here’s the proposed template.) And admittedly, the form isn’t going to be as compact as that nutrition label. The  summary will get into the nitty gritty of plan details, including deductibles for specific categories and an explanation of what a consumer would end up spending on three common medical ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139679 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:06:23 +0100 5139679 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139696&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FySYnjbBACN4%2F By Trevor BurrusOn Friday, when the 11th Circuit struck down the individual mandate portion of ObamaCare, a trip to the Supreme Court became all but assured. Previously, although Supreme Court review was highly probable even if a circuit split didn’t develop, there was still an outside chance that the Court would deny review if all circuit courts upheld the law. Now, the Court is essentially obliged to take the case. This is reason enough to be happy about the decision. As I work my way through the opinion, I become even happier. The opinion is not only exhaustive, it is convincing. If Congress oversteps the outer limits of its power, the court explains, then “the Constitution requires judicial engagement, not judicial abdication.” Thus, we are given over 200 pages of “judicial en... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139696 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:00:57 +0100 5139696 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130647&cid=t_99797_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F15%2Fthe-functions-of-gp-commissioning-consortia-a-working-document%2F Scan to download 'The functions of GP commissioning consortia: a working document' Title: The functions of GP commissioning consortia: a working document The Skinny: Document that describes the proposed statutory functions of GP consortia to support GPs in establishing consortia (as a summary of the content of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011and providing illustrative examples), it identifies: the proposed key statutory duties of consortia (the ‘must dos’) the proposed key statutory powers (the things consortia have the freedom to do, if they wish, to help meet these duties) illustrative examples of what this could look like in the future Filed under: Ooops Missed Category! Tagged: Audit, Clinical Audit, Commissioning, Grey Literature, Health care, Health servic... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130647 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:16:35 +0100 5130647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130664&cid=t_99797_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F15%2Fnhs-reforms-in-england-managing-the-transition%2F Scan to download 'NHS reforms in England managing the transition' Title: NHS reforms in England: managing the transition The Skinny: Nuffield Trust report that assesses the 2011/12 Operating Framework for the NHS together with guidance on the operation of Payment by Results (PbR) in 2011/12. Establishes the key challenges associated with managing the transition to a reformed NHS, as envisaged in the White Paper: Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, and proposes ways in which the risks associated with transition might be mitigated. It suggests there is a need for clear guidance on the governance and structural arrangements for emerging GP consortia, to ensure adequate local and national accountability for quality, financial control and value for money. The report also identi... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130664 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:16:29 +0100 5130664 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130666&cid=t_99797_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F15%2Ftransforming-community-services-transformational-guides%2F Scan or click to download 'Transforming Community Services: Ambition, Action, Achievement Transforming Rehabilitation Services' Title: Transforming Community Services: Ambition, Action, Achievement Transforming Rehabilitation Services The Skinny: Guide for use by frontline clinicians, commissioners and providers a based around a framework of ambition, action and achievement: Clearly setting out your ambition Taking action to deliver the ambition using the best available evidence (high impact changes) Demonstrating and measuring achievement (using quality indicators) The guidance also includes six transformational attributes which practitioners and teams need to demonstrate in order to meet the requirements of the high performing practitioner-partner-leader roles. Publisher: DH ... Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130666 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:09:01 +0100 5130666 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5182056&cid=t_99797_118_f&fid=34852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joepaduda.com%2Farchives%2F002147.html As the economy started to recover and health reform measures began to be implemented in Q1 2011, health plans benefited with increased enrollment. According to industry analysts Mark Farrah Associates, "The Commercial sector saw a net gain of 1.6 million... (Source: Managed Care Matters) Managed Care Matters blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5182056 Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5182056 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5130872&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2FX8JuuH6We8U%2Fpartners-health-care-acquiring-neighborhood-health-plan-the-800-pound-gorilla-and-the-fig-leaf.html Partners Health Care (the dominant provider network in Greater Boston) and Neighborhood Health Plan (a local mostly-Medicaid HMO) just announced that the former intends to acquire the latter, and maintain it as a separate operating entity.  No money will change hands between the parties, but an unspecified amount of money will be given by Partners as grants to community health centers where NHP members receive much of their health care services. Gary Gottlieb, CEO of Partners, graciously allowed that it would not seek to interfere with the current referral patterns of NHP members to the two local safety-net hospitals (which get disproportionate share hospital payments; Partners hospitals do not). The deal is contingent on several layers of regulatory review, including review by the Commo... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5130872 Sun, 14 Aug 2011 20:35:15 +0100 5130872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125711&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FofPXtZsx9AQ%2F Two U.S. appeals courts are now at loggerheads over the constitutionality of the health-care overhaul law. As the WSJ reports, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled 2-1 that the individual mandate to purchase health insurance (or, of course, face a penalty), violates the Constitution. The court did say the law could go forward without the mandate, however — the whole thing doesn’t have to be thrown out if that provision goes. Here’s the decision. The court’s ruling butts up against a June decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, which upheld the law 2-1. And that conflict, as our colleagues at the WSJ’s Law Blog note, underlines the notion (in black Sharpie pen) that this matter will eventually be set... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125711 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:11:03 +0100 5125711 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125713&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFA7J41kQ6F0%2F By Michael F. CannonHere’s the meat of the majority opinion: We first conclude that the Act’s Medicaid expansion is constitutional. Existing Supreme Court precedent does not establish that Congress’s inducements are unconstitutionally coercive, especially when the federal government will bear nearly all the costs of the program’s amplified enrollments. Next, the individual mandate was enacted as a regulatory penalty, not a revenue-raising tax, and cannot be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s power under the Taxing and Spending Clause. The mandate is denominated as a penalty in the Act itself, and the legislative history and relevant case law confirm this reading of its function. Further, the individual mandate exceeds Congress’s enumerated commerce power and is ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125713 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:02:34 +0100 5125713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125714&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbgTalQD13HY%2F By Ilya ShapiroToday is a great day for liberty.  By striking down the individual mandate, the Eleventh Circuit has reaffirmed that the Constitution places limits on the federal government’s power.  Congress can do a great many things under modern constitutional jurisprudence, but, as the court concludes, “what Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.”  Indeed, just because Congress can regulate the health insurance industry does not mean it can also require people to buy that industry’s products. One of the striking things about today’s ruling is that, for the first time in one of these cases, a Dem... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125714 Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:56:04 +0100 5125714 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118590&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F11%2Fhealth-spending-projection-spin-cycle-rinse-and-repeat-or-reset%2F One of the annual rituals of Washington’s health policy calendar involves the release of projections for the next ten years of national health spending by actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It then is followed immediately by desperate efforts by various interest groups and advocacy “analysts” to spin the new numbers [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118590 Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:41:21 +0100 5118590 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118591&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F10%2Fhealth-affairs-briefing-confronting-costs%2F On September 8, Health Affairs will release its September 2011 issue, “Confronting Costs.” The issue explores the third element of the famed Three-Part Aim for health care: namely, the objective of lowering costs. Topics to be discussed include chronic disease costs and opportunities for savings through prevention; who bears the burden of health costs; the [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118591 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:36:17 +0100 5118591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118613&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FR7dzspykaNU%2F By Michael F. CannonThe debt deal was none too kind to ObamaCare. Here’s more bad news for this misguided law: Kansas becomes the second state (after Oklahoma) to return to the federal government one of ObamaCare’s lavish “Early Innovator Grants.” Coming from Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius’s home state, that’s gotta hurt. The latest ObamaCare eruption shows the law could cost $50 billion more per year than advertised. If anyone but the government sold you something like this, we’d put them in jail. Many of the same Democrats who said it wasn’t a benefit cut when ObamaCare ratcheted down the price controls that government uses to pay health care providers now say it is a benefit cut when states do that. Kansas Retur... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118613 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:21:48 +0100 5118613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107477&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F08%2F09%2Fjulys-most-read-ha-blog-posts%2F Timothy Jost’s series of posts on proposed new federal rules for state health insurance exchanges leads July’s list of most-read Health Affairs Blog posts. Jon Kingsdale’s article on Massachusetts’ efforts to control health care costs is also featured on the list, as are Jeff Goldsmith’s discussion of the effect of health reform on employer-based health [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107477 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:44:43 +0100 5107477 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107493&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FH_7njf0d_Wg%2F By David BoazA letter in the Washington Post from Dale Everett of Ashburn, Va., makes a point about the sustainability of our entitlements programs: At 80, I am a “poster boy” for what is wrong with Medicare and Social Security. I worked full time from 1950 until 1993, when I retired. I paid the maximum amount annually required by law. My payment from Social Security in 1993 was $1,170 per month, and it now exceeds $1,500. I paid $47,377 into the fund and have so far received more than $288,000 from it. As for Medicare I paid $14,350 into the fund from 1966 to 1993. I have been very healthy but had cancer several years ago and a craniotomy five years ago. The costs of those exceeded $1 million. Even minor surgery would far exceed what I paid to the fund. Please tell me how such a syste... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107493 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:19:01 +0100 5107493 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107509&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstevereads.com%2Fpapers_to_read%2Funcertainty_and_the_welfare_economics_of_medical_care.pdf The following is a post by Dr. Jessie Gruman from the Center for Advancing Health. This blog post was originally published at Prepared Patient Forum: What It Takes Blog. “There is a better way – structural reforms that empower patients with greater choices and increase the role of competition in the health-care marketplace.” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)August 3, 2011 The highly charged political debates about reforming American health care have provided tempting opportunities to rename the people who receive health services.  But because the impetus for this change has been prompted by cost and quality concerns of health care payers, researchers and policy experts rather than emanating from us out of our own needs, some odd words have been called into service.  Two phrases commonly used ... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107509 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:28:10 +0100 5107509 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107483&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FzI5sxWjKWVE%2F Reversal of Course: The federal government won’t try to force the resignation of Forest Laboratories CEO Howard Solomon after the company last year plead guilty to drug-marketing misdemeanors, the WSJ reports. Solomon wasn’t named in the criminal action but the government had sought to exclude him from doing business with the government under a clause of the Social Security Act. Bad Habit: New research shows that when it comes to lung-cancer risk, smoking within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning is worse than waiting at least an hour before lighting up, the BBC reports. It’s not clear why, but one possible explanation is that people suck in smoke more intensely when they smoke first thing in the morning, increasing exposure to chemicals. Unclear Effectiveness?: The U... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107483 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:40:52 +0100 5107483 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5103336&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhealth-care-attorney-discusses-the-use-of-disclaimers-on-facebook-pages%2F2011.08.06 This is the third part of a three part post addressing the legal concerns of social networking in the health care arena. In part one, legal expert David Harlow, Esq., Health Care Attorney and Consultant at The Harlow Group, LLC in Boston, answered questions regarding “The Legal Implications for Doctors, Nurses and Hospitals Engaging in Social Media?” In part two, Mr. Harlow answered questions related to the Pharma industry;  “Legal Concerns: What Steps can Pharma Take to Engage in Social Media?” The third part addresses a question from a follower on Facebook about the use of disclaimers. Q:  Barbara: A Healthin30 reader on Facebook writes:  “I’m looking for a good disclaimer to put on a couple of medical practices’ Facebook pages. The AMA social media guidelines aren’t h... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5103336 Sat, 06 Aug 2011 21:00:47 +0100 5103336 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5103342&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhat-should-people-receiving-health-care-be-called-empowered-patient-vs-health-care-consumer%2F2011.08.05 “There is a better way – structural reforms that empower patients with greater choices and increase the role of competition in the health-care marketplace.” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) August 3, 2011 The highly charged political debates about reforming American health care have provided tempting opportunities to rename the people who receive health services.  But because the impetus for this change has been prompted by cost and quality concerns of health care payers, researchers and policy experts rather than emanating from us out of our own needs, some odd words have been called into service.  Two phrases commonly used to describe us convey meanings that mischaracterize our experiences and undervalue our needs: “empowered patient” and “health care consumer.” As one who has done ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5103342 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:00:35 +0100 5103342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096192&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FC8uUKj_w1Lo%2F The latest video from the Alliance for Health Reform is now available. It  features Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund. Health care spending will be a target of efforts to cut the federal deficit. The best way to reduce unnecessary spending, Dr. Davis says, is to make sure everyone gets the right care, using new provider payment mechanisms such as bundled payment and value-based purchasing. In this video, Dr. Davis describes some of these payment reforms and lays out the case for greater use of comparative effectiveness research to learn “what really works.” This video is part of a series produced by the Alliance and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care) Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096192 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:07:01 +0100 5096192 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096163&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FAOgPxXQoppA%2F By Ilya ShapiroThat’s how I describe the individual mandate in my contribution to SCOTUSblog‘s online symposium on Obamacare, which Trevor Burrus has already highlighted.  Here’s an excerpt: All the Obamacare legal challenges boil down to Congress’s authority – or lack thereof – to require people to buy private insurance.  Although unfortunately not dispositive of modern judicial decisions, the text of the Constitution demands that the Supreme Court strike down the individual mandate as an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce.  Finding the mandate constitutional would be the first interpretation of the Commerce Clause to permit the regulation of inactivity – in effect requiring an individual to engage in an economi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096163 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:00:47 +0100 5096163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096097&cid=t_99797_85_f&fid=34967&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdocisinblog%2FwNlq%2F%7E3%2FJj4POHfFcZQ%2F Well, now, isn’t that special… Forbes reports on a new investment vehicle, tailor-made for the get-rich-quick crowd: Playing The Odds: Hedge Funds Finance Medical Malpractice Claims: An entirely new industry has cropped up in recent years as trial lawyers set their sights on making money off physicians, corporations and other targets–particularly financing malpractice suits through hedge funds. In 2010, hedge funds invested $1 billion in these types of suits, much of it for medical malpractice cases… … the rewards can be remarkable for investors, which is why dollars are flowing into these hedge funds. Payouts can result in tens of millions of dollars. George Soros, call your office… Having milked all the money they can from sub-prime mortgages, deriva... The Doctor Is In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096097 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:27:09 +0100 5096097 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5097033&cid=t_99797_147_f&fid=39202&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnicolaziady.com%2F2011%2F08%2Finternets-impact-on-healthcare%2F Fifty five percent of patients use the internet to find treatment information according to a 2010 U.S. Survey of Health Care Consumers According to the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions survey, fifty three percent  of seniors, fifty five percent of baby boomers, fifty seven percent of Generation X and fifty six percent of Generation Y research treatment information online. Patients are knowledgeable and informed The Deloitte survey found 25% of participants reported searching online for physician and quality information. Twenty percent of consumers want to access health records by a secure Internet connection. 1 in 5 patients say they would switch physicians to obtain access and would  use a mobile communication device to maintain these records .. however, contrary to this data &#821... Nicola Ziady blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5097033 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:55:32 +0100 5097033 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096676&cid=t_99797_118_f&fid=34852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joepaduda.com%2Farchives%2F002141.html Now that the debt limit deal is done, the hard stuff starts. While there's been a lot of focus on the Pentagon budget and lack of revenue increases, the real heavy lifting will come when the super-committee convenes to figure... (Source: Managed Care Matters) Managed Care Matters blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096676 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5096676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086167&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhat-we-want-in-health-news-is-often-not-what-we-need%2F2011.08.01 News of the World wasn’t read by 15 percent of the British public because it told people what they should know. It got there by giving them what they wanted: stories about the peccadilloes of the rich and famous, accounts of the gross incompetence of government and of course, pictures of naked ladies. Setting aside the fact that News of the World is no more, its publishers and editors knew how to sell the “news.”  As free online news replaces print, every click, every page view, every second of viewing per page is tracked in the fierce competition for ad dollars, and so the selling of news increasingly influences its reporting.  Titles, format and content are tweaked by editors to “optimize the metrics.” Reporters succeed and fail based on their ability to write articles that a... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086167 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:00:46 +0100 5086167 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086137&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FY2g0k-H0Yys%2F Paying Up: Getting a drug approved is only the first step for pharma companies as insurance companies and governments crack down on spending by focusing on the value that a new medication will bring, the WSJ reports. AstraZeneca, for example, will be negotiating with U.S. insurers over the next year, hoping to convince them that the new anti-clotting drug Brilinta is worth the $7.24 per day it plans to charge. That’s a 20% premium over the current gold-standard treatment, Plavix, which will lose patent protection next year, the paper says. “Lab On a Chip”: A report published online by Nature Medicine shows that a small device that can be used in the field accurately detected both HIV and syphilis in a group of Rwandan people, the Washington Post reports. The so-called lab... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086137 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:46:43 +0100 5086137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086488&cid=t_99797_136_f&fid=39026&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarolinemfr.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fits-all-fancy-bookkeeping-to-me.html Partners Health Care, a group of doctors and hospitals, has promised to rein in costs by $40 million. That sounds like a nice number and everything should be peachy keen. But they are not giving back any money, they are renegotiating contracts and have taken over a year to do this. Also, their assets are $11.5 billion. I have nothing against Partners and think they probably do a good job at providing health care. I also think that reducing health care costs is a good idea. I am just using them as an example here because they were in the news.It is obvious that health care costs need to be reined in. I don't think this is really doing anything. Yes they are going to renegotiate contracts from high rates to low rates and take a $40 million dollar hit. But how does this help us consumers/pati... Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086488 Sun, 31 Jul 2011 12:47:00 +0100 5086488 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077641&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F29%2Fa-call-for-physicians-to-contribute-to-solutions-not-costs%2F  It’s time for America’s physicians, particularly its highly paid procedural specialists, to make a choice.  Are we primarily businessmen with a keen eye on the financial bottom line, or are we above all professionals, well versed in the healing arts and dedicated to our patients’ care, regardless of their circumstances?  America’s medical system is breaking [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077641 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:11:18 +0100 5077641 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077642&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F28%2Fu-s-health-spending-projected-to-grow-5-8-percent-annually%2F All health care spending in the United States is projected to grow at an annual average rate of 5.8 percent for the period 2010 through 2020, 1.1 percentage points faster than expected growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By 2020, health care spending is projected to be 19.8 percent of GDP, nearly one-fifth of economic [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077642 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:48:45 +0100 5077642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077650&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FcO9evJrVuvA%2F Choosing a Spinoff: Pfizer is more likely to spin off its animal health division than to sell it, the WSJ reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The pharma company is still likely to entertain offers for the business, which could be worth as much as $15 billion, but tax and antitrust considerations make it unlikely it will opt for a sale and will instead prepare to spin it off, the paper says. Preemptive Strike: An Institute of Medicine report on the medical-device approval pathway known as 510K isn’t due out until tomorrow, but already industry supporters are gearing up to challenge the report and the panel that authored it, the New York Times reports. The Washington Legal Foundation, for example, claims the panel is biased because it lacks representation from industry, in... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077650 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:48:04 +0100 5077650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069421&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F27%2Fthe-beacon-communities-at-one-year-the-mississippi-delta-experience%2F The federal government’s Beacon Program provides funding to 17 communities that have already made inroads in the development of secure, private, and accurate systems of electronic health record (EHR) adoption and health information exchange. This is the fifth in a series of Health Affairs Blog posts in which leaders of several Beacon communities discuss their [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069421 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:59:24 +0100 5069421 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069433&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSnsANkDbsNY%2F By Michael F. CannonThe New York Times Magazine has a lengthy (and not entirely unflattering) feature on James O’Keefe, founder of Project Veritas.  Here’s what the profile says about Project Veritas’s ongoing string of Medicaid-fraud sting videos: It isn’t exactly a secret that some Medicaid money winds up in unqualified hands, but it was surprising to see how willingly minor officials turned a blind eye and, in some cases, even offered advice on how to game the system. Actually, it’s not just minor officials.  And when one understands Medicaid, it’s not surprising either. NYT Magazine: ‘Surprising…How Willingly’ Medicaid Officials Enable Fraud is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069433 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:19:07 +0100 5069433 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069436&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FdZtIG8KLKH0%2F By Michael F. CannonOn NPR this morning, I heard White House chief of staff Bill Daley say, “The president cannot usurp the power that’s in the Congress.” What a relief! Also, this: I don’t think the American people would find it appropriate for the president of the United States to defy the laws of the nation and its Constitution, without their belief that that president should be impeached. And this president isn’t going to do anything against the Constitution, against the laws of the United States of America. So if the president were to defy, say, the War Powers Resolution by ridiculously redefining “hostilities,” or if he were to defy the Constitution by signing a law that claims for Congress a power the Constitution does not grant (say, Obama... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069436 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:38:22 +0100 5069436 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069597&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2F-8F6F2av9PI%2Frural-health-white-paper-released-by-unitedhealth-group-think-tank.html The UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization released a white paper today on Modernizing Rural Health Care.  To quote from the UHG presser, [The paper] projects an increase of around 5 million newly insured rural residents by 2019 – even as the number of physicians in rural America lags Quality of care is rated lower in rural areas in 7 out of every 10 health care markets; both physicians and consumers in rural areas more likely to rate quality of care lower than those in urban and suburban markets Innovations in care delivery – particularly telemedicine and telehealth – can absorb future strain on rural health care systems The paper inventories the current state of health care for the 50 million Americans living in a rural setting -- and it's not pretty.�... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069597 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:23:08 +0100 5069597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069446&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FS8CVnEiPgT4%2F By Michael F. CannonAvailable here. Something about Medicaid employees coaching faux Russians on how to hide income and assets so as to enroll their father in Medicaid. I’m not sure how much of what Project Veritas has found counts as fraud. But I’m pretty sure it’s chump change compared to this stuff: It is interesting, and consistent with the thesis of this video and my National Review article, that Project Veritas’s Medicaid-fraud videos haven’t garnered nearly as much attention as their other “stings.” ‘Project Veritas’ Releases New Medicaid Fraud Video is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069446 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:23:39 +0100 5069446 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069477&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Finstitute-of-medicine-suggests-8-new-preventive-services-to-improve-womens-health%2F2011.07.26 Eight preventive health services for women should be added to the services that health plans will cover at no cost to patients under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine. The recommendations encompass diseases and conditions that are more common or more serious in women than in men. They are based on existing guidelines and an assessment of the evidence on the effectiveness of different preventive services. They include: 1) screening for gestational diabetes in pregnant women between 24 and 28 weeks and at the first prenatal visit for women at high risk for diabetes, 2) adding high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing in addition to conventional cytology testing in women with normal cytology results starting at age 30, ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069477 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:00:00 +0100 5069477 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069449&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBjcOn1sbcrE%2F By Michael F. CannonI’m a few days behind on this, but over at The Corner Yuval Levin has written an important post about how health care entitlements are the real cause of the debt crisis facing the federal government. Using Congressional Budget Office projections, Levin creates this magnificent chart, which I plan to steal over and over again: If Republicans want to conquer the federal debt, they need to embrace health policy like they embrace tax cuts. Health Care Entitlements Are the Real Debt Bomb is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069449 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:55:19 +0100 5069449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069466&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2Fkacp3b2MFJc%2F The sky is the limit it seems when it comes to mobile health. Proving once again the myriad possibilities for that smartphone apps present to every facet of the health sector, Orca MD — a company dedicated to producing apps aimed at educating patients and helping them find the most effective treatment for their ailments — just released two new patient education apps – these focusing on cosmetic procedures. The new apps (FaceDecide & BreastDecide) come in addition to their six existing Orthopedic patient education apps — including an orthopedic app called ShoulderDecide, which was recently reviewed by iMedicalApps.com. While these latest apps are obviously less focused on chronic medical conditions than the original six, they do call attention to just how great the ... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069466 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:05:56 +0100 5069466 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062347&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2FVbefN6-mntM%2Fhealth-information-technology-tweeps-to-watch-the-hit100-list.html Michael Planchart, aka @theEHRguy, put out the call last month for nominations to the #HIT100, intended to be a list of key health IT folk engaged in social media.  The crowdsourced #HIT100 list -- Michael tabulated the nominations -- is posted on several blogs, including @nateosit's (linked to above).  Keith Boone (aka @motorcycle_guy put together a twitter list of all #HIT100 nominees.  (Nate and Keith both ended up near the top of this list.) Update 7/25/2011:  Nate reports that Keith's final list is more accurate.  Many folks I interact with on a regular basis on line and in real life are on this list, and I am honored to be included in it as well.  (Check out this photo of Keith wearing a @reginaholliday jacket from The Walking Gallery at the tweetup I organized w @bobcoffield... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062347 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:26:38 +0100 5062347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5057810&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2Fs59FGFWkjts%2Fhealth-care-social-media-getting-health-care-providers-off-the-dime.html I had the opportunity to share some thoughts recently aimed at getting health care providers off the social media bench and into the game in a new online community / group blog, HealthWorks Collective.  I invite you to check out the community at large, hosted at Social Media Today, and to check out my post there, in particular.  I opened with one of my favorite explanations of why health care provider organizations should be involved in social media.  If you are interested in learning more, please watch this space for announcements of upcoming webinars and speaking engagements (some are listed here), and feel free to contact me if you'd like to arrange to have the HealthBlawger present to your group, or facilitate a retreat.  David HarlowThe Harlow Group LLCHealth Care Law and Consult... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5057810 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:18:36 +0100 5057810 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050775&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fwhy-do-doctors-give-kickbacks-and-whats.html It's very easy for people to moralise and wax eloquent about the declining standards of ethics and morality amongst doctors in India today. However, rather than blame individuals or the medical profession, I think we need to focus on finding a solution.This is my viewpoint.Individually, most doctors are good people. They enter medicine because they want to be of service to others - and most are intelligent, conscientious, idealistic and hardworking when they enter medical college.However, as time goes by, they gradually become cynical and bitter. There are few positive role models they can look upto - and when they see their seniors indulge in unethical practises, they are quite resigned to toeing the party line. After all, how can you fight the "system" ? In India, isn't everyone corrupt,... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050775 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:24:00 +0100 5050775 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050955&cid=t_99797_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fcome-sit-in-my-seat-with-me%2F As most of you who read this blog regularly know, I am plagued by sacroiliac joint pain. I have other problems but today, since I am lying here on a painful behind and have been intensely trying to get out of this current flare, it is on my mind. I thought you might be interested in knowing what life is like in my shoes, my seat and my life right now. It’s been almost three months since I flew to California with my daughter to begin the process of cleaning out my mother-in-law’s house. I don’t fly well…at least without my wings. Even on an airplane I am bottom challenged and find them grossly uncomfortable. Three days after flying home I picked up our 31 pound rough-coated Jack Russell, Annie because she couldn’t get into the car to go to the vet’s. The combination of all of t... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050955 Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:27:49 +0100 5050955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050776&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fare-doctors-just-specialised-knowledge.html Lots of people believe that healthcare today is "mismanaged" - and that better management would allow more efficient and effective medical care to be provided ! After all, how can any argue against the statement that management is better than mismanagement - isn't this a no-brainer ?If you want to manage medical care, you need to manage doctors - and if doctors can be treated as "knowledge workers", then it's possible to use what we have learnt from the experience of managing engineers and computer programmers and then apply it to medicine. After all, aren't doctors just experts who deal with patients, just like computer programmers are experts who handle computers ? This seems to be entirely reasonable and logical - but it's precisely the seductiveness of the this argument which causes ma... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050776 Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:41:00 +0100 5050776 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050777&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F07%2Ftaylorism-technopoly-and-medicine.html Nicholas Carr's new book, The Shallows has a great quotation, which he uses to describe Google's intellectual ethic." In his 1993 book Technopoly, Neil Postman distilled the main tenets of Taylor's system of scientific management. Taylorism, he wrote, is founded on six assumptions: "that the primary, if not the only, goal of human labor and thought is efficiency; that technical calculation is in all respects superior to human judgment; that in fact human judgment cannot be trusted, because it is plagued by laxity, ambiguity, and unnecessary complexity; that subjectivity is an obstacle to clear thinking; that what cannot be measured either does not exist or is of no value; and that the affairs of citizens are best guided and conducted by experts”.What struck me forcibly is the fact that P... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050777 Thu, 21 Jul 2011 02:50:00 +0100 5050777 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050531&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FR5XxUP18JOM%2F Cato’s crack filmmakers have just released this video based on my National Review article, “Entitlement Bandits — How the Ryan Plan Would Curb Medicare and Medicaid Fraud.” The message is simple.  Medicare and Medicaid don’t just tolerate massive amounts of fraud.  They protect it.  Members of Congress care so little about fraud that they can’t be bothered to measure the problem properly and even block effective anti-fraud efforts.  It’s not because they are evil.  They are simply following the incentives the political system creates.  The result is that the rate of fraud in these programs is hundreds of times larger than in credit cards, for example. Short of repeal, nothing is going to alter those incentives in a way that would bring such... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050531 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:37:25 +0100 5050531 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050565&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FZZi-5Y7hlwk%2F By Jane Sarasohn-Kahn. Patients who perceive their visit to the doctor was patient-centered, with more communication, receive fewer diagnostic tests and referrals, and yield lower expenses for diagnostic testing. A new study finds that patient-centered care leads to lower spending on health care over one year of care due to fewer specialty care referrals. A contributing factor to lower costs is increased patient participation during the visit, which reduces patients’ anxiety and perceived need for further investigations and referrals. In the milieu of more effective patient-physician communication, physician gets more knowledge about the patient. This brings greater trust between patient and doctor, as described in Patient-Centered Care is Associated with Decreased Health Care Utiliza... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050565 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:11:21 +0100 5050565 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050540&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F_KmJFhIq-So%2F Robin Hanson has a post on the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment over at Overcoming Bias.  He concludes: So far, the new Oregon Health Insurance Experiment shows that for very poor and sick folks who go out of their way to request medical insurance, giving them such insurance makes them report feeling healthier. Two-thirds of this effect appears immediately on granting their request, and before they actually got more medical treatment. It remains to be seen if these healthy feelings will be reflected in more direct health measures, though that seems plausible, and we’ll probably never see mortality effects. The main results of the RAND [health insurance] experiment, which looked at all sorts of people, suggests doubts about presuming that if medicine helps the very poor and sick, it on... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050540 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:11:53 +0100 5050540 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050506&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F18%2Fpatient-advocates-flies-in-the-ointment-of-evidence-based-care%2F The women recounted how their lives had been saved as they pleaded for the Food and Drug Administration not to withdraw approval for Avastin as a treatment for advanced breast cancer. They did so even without evidence that it provides benefit and with evidence that it confers risks. Their efforts were ultimately not successful: the [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050506 Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:07:44 +0100 5050506 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050906&cid=t_99797_118_f&fid=34852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joepaduda.com%2Farchives%2F002133.html Five percent of people account for half of all medical costs. That's true for group health, Medicare, Medicaid, workers comp - pretty much every line of coverage. You know that, I know that, we all know that. But what do... (Source: Managed Care Matters) Managed Care Matters blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050906 Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5050906 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036230&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhat-can-history-tell-us-about-healthcare-in-america%2F2011.07.17 Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. The time has arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity…The poor have more sickness, but they get less medical care. People who live in rural areas do not get the same amount or quality of medical attention as those who live in our cities. The above quote wasn’t taken from an Obama administration policy proposal. These words are from a 1945 speech by President Harry Truman. It is astonishing that over 60 years later, the health care crisis is not only still with us, but is slowly smothering us. How many years of oxygen do we have left until health care in America is entirely asphy... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036230 Sun, 17 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0100 5036230 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028116&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F14%2Flow-income-patients-in-california-experiences-and-expectations%2F Editor’s Note: Another Health Affairs Blog post published today also discusses the California health care system and how the Affordable Care Act will affect the way the state meets the needs of low-income patients. Many low-income patients have had little or no choice about where they obtain health care. But this will change when the [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028116 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:24:00 +0100 5028116 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028144&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2MXjYuRQoP8%2F By Michael F. CannonA fantastic video based on this fantastic article by Jonathan Rauch: And it would work like this, if the government made travel arrangements for one third of the population and penalized anyone else who didn’t let an employer make theirs. If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028144 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:37:23 +0100 5028144 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028151&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfZcv4U6Ao18%2F By Michael F. CannonUSA Today’s Kelly Kennedy is going to town on Medicare & Medicaid fraud.  Today, she writes: In California, as English-as-a-second-language Medicare recipients line up for other services, a person will approach them in line and “They’ll say, ‘The government would really like for you to have a wheelchair,’” said Julie Schoen, director of special projects for California’s Senior Medicare Patrol. Then, she said, the scammer will take the Medicare recipient to a “clinic” for an exam. The patient will often receive a wheelchair, but not a motorized wheelchair worth about $3,600 for which Medicare will be billed, Schoen said… “It’s a big problem,” Schoen said. “The scammers really know how to do ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028151 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:45:24 +0100 5028151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028152&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FeOrreUZjNME%2F By Michael F. CannonThat’s the title of this week’s column for Kaiser Health News.  An excerpt: As luck would have it, we have a home-grown model for Medicare reform that would contain spending and improve the quality of care. This model appeals to both Republican and Democratic ideals: it satisfies the Republican desire for individual ownership and control, but emulates a social insurance program revered by Democrats. The key to improving health care for seniors is … to make Medicare look more like Social Security. With this column, I have finally managed to work my favorite Seinfeld quote into my professional writing. A Medicare Reform Model Everyone Can Love is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028152 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:44:35 +0100 5028152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028200&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2F6Yvhta4ECuk%2F By Hope Ditto. Most of the country is sweltering its way through this week’s heat wave, but there is one thing here in DC rising faster than the mercury in our thermometers – tensions on the Hill as the debt ceiling stalemate continues. Whispers [well, tweeted whispers] of default “what ifs” abound here in the nation’s capital as lawmakers continue to play a high-stakes game of chicken through day after day of floor debates, committee hearings and negotiating sessions. With interest rates, Social Security payments and America’s credit score dangling in the balance, and the clock ticking towards the Aug. 2 deadline, the air is even thicker with panic than it is with humidity (though my frizzy hair would say otherwise). As with April’s narrowly-avoided government shutdown, pun... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028200 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:00:17 +0100 5028200 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028631&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2FrNePQpCmHgk%2Fhealth-insurance-exchange-regulations-are-out-and-they-make-me-feel-like-a-visitor-from-the-future.html Health Insurance Exchange regulations were released by HHS yesterday -- in a DC hardware store, for local color and homespun truths -- with a go-live date of January 1, 2014, per the Affordable Care Act, and a key interim approval deadline of January 1, 2013, by which date each state needs to demonstrate that it has its act together and is on a glide path to the go-live date.  Despite the rancorous opposition to the ACA (consider, for example, the views of the Virginia Attorney General -- who is leading a multi-state charge against the individual mandate -- expressed at the American Health Lawyers Association Annual Meeting last month, where he was an invited keynote speaker, and later tweeted a tone-deaf assessment of the audience and an unkind skewering of a questioner who didn't share ... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028631 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:11:10 +0100 5028631 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028052&cid=t_99797_85_f&fid=34798&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommitmenttoliving.com%2F2011%2F07%2F11%2Fmental-health-during-deployment-study%2F A group of US and UK colleagues have published an interesting qualitative study about the challenges and resiliency of military mental health professionals (MMHPs). They had a small non-representative sample of British MMHPs who had completed a period of deployment in Iraq between 2003-2005. For the study, they participated in detailed interviews about their experiences practicing in a deployment setting. The authors did a nice job pulling together themes from the interviews in order to develop a conceptual model for the goals, challenges, and resources, and to draw out some recommendations about training and planning. Recommended: McCauley, M., Liebling-Kalifani, H., & Hughes, J. H. (2011). Military Mental Health Professionals On Operational Deployment: An Exploratory Study. Community... Commitment to Living blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028052 Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:17:18 +0100 5028052 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028632&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2Fj1wDO3_RgCk%2Fhealthcare-associated-infections-what-is-the-message-and-what-can-we-do-about-them.html   The good people at GE and JESS3 have come up with an HAI infographic.  It's pretty, and it conveys the horrible information that many of us already know -- healthcare associated infections kill about 100,000 people a year, and add $35 billion a year to our collective health care bill (here in the US of A); 5% of hospital inpatients end up with an HAI. So what do we expect the world to do with this infographic?  The FDA has rolled out new cigarette package warnings, including graphic photos, that are presumably intended to so sicken potential purchasers of cigarettes that they drop the pack of cigarettes and run screaming from the counter.  In more measured terms, the FDA says: The introduction of these warnings is expected to have a significant public health impact by decreasing... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028632 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:18:39 +0100 5028632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008133&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmFnpbYYYuyg%2F By Michael F. CannonOr at least, that’s what The Daily Caller says a Republican pollster says: A year may have passed since Obamacare passed, but conservatives are still angry as hell about it. Expect the legislation to play a large role in the 2012 elections, according to John McLaughlin, who recently conducted a series of focus groups for the research group Resurgent Republic. The group is run by some of the country’s best-known Republicans. “My guess it it’s going to be a big election issue next year,” McLaughlin said in an interview… When it comes to President Obama’s health care law among these voters, the perception of these voters has hardly changed: the intensity remains strong and they still want it repealed, McLaughlin said. ObamaCare‘s overall numbe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008133 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:44:43 +0100 5008133 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008181&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FCRDbof3Lrxk%2F By Jane Sarasohn-Kahn. Can a patient’s experience with health care providers be as engaging, entertaining and satisfying as time spent at amusement parks? The Disney Institute thinks so, and has established a program to help health providers delight health consumers called Building a Culture of Healthcare Excellence. With the tagline, “D-Think Your Way to Success,” The Disney Institute offers programs that help organizations apply Disney’s lessons in customer service, creativity and leadership to their own situations. In the case of the Healthcare Excellence program, Disney is looking to re-focus health care delivery beyond clinical outcomes toward the overall patient experience. The Institute’s press release notes that the HCAHPS survey on patients’ experiences with provider... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008181 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:58:49 +0100 5008181 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008137&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fhi868lAU5aE%2F By Michael F. CannonMatt Yglesias writes: a new rigorous study from Oregon confirms that Medicaid does, indeed, save lives As The Atlantic‘s Megan McArdle writes: “This is exactly what the study does not find.”  Like McArdle, I read the study, and can confirm this.  Or perhaps Yglesias can direct us to the part of the study where he read that…. If Yglesias could see in this rigorous study something that isn’t actually there, does that mean there’s a chance that the motivations he assigns to ObamaCare opponents — they “want to deny life-saving medical care to the poor” — may not comport to reality either? More on Over-Interpreting the Oregon Medicaid Study is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-li... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008137 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:52:34 +0100 5008137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008414&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2F5bURn4uodAs%2Fsgr-in-the-mpfs-again-duck-season-wabbit-season-doc-season.html It's doc season again, that time of year when the sustainable growth rate rules are trotted out, and physicians are informed that they will face catastrophic rate reductions courtesy of Medicare (29.5%, effective January 1, 2012, per the July 1 announcement).  There will be much breast beating about how we've gotten into this fine mess, and what we should cut instead in order to maintain physician reimbursement levels (suggestions I've seen range from cutting the defense budget to eliminating Medicare coverage for dialysis).  Docs will say they've had enough and are opting out of Medicare.  We can look back to MedPAC recommendations on how to fix this so we don't need an annual doc fix, or look forward to a permanent fix, for which Don Berwick made an impassioned plea, even as he annou... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008414 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:40:12 +0100 5008414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008139&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6jdRyezxVhw%2F By Michael F. CannonFrom their editorial the other day: There is no doubt that Medicaid… has to be cut substantially in future decades to help curb federal deficits. For cash-strapped states, program cuts may be necessary right now. But in reducing spending, government needs to ensure any changes will not cause undue harm to millions. How would the Times cut Medicaid spending? The magic of central planning! The best route to savings — already embodied in the reform law — is to make the health care system more efficient over all so that costs are reduced for Medicaid, Medicare and private insurers as well. Various pilot programs to reduce costs might be speeded up…. And if government were smart, rather than stupid, that would work. I’ve got a better idea for cutting Me... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008139 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:58:44 +0100 5008139 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008415&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthblawg.typepad.com%2Ffiles%2Fregina-herzlinger-on-healthblawg-w-david-harlow-07-2011.mp3 I spoke with Harvard Business School professor Regina Herzlinger this week about health reform – the good, the bad and the ugly – touching on ACOs and demonstration projects under the Affordable Care Act; innovations coming down the pike in the private sector either because of the law or because of market forces; social media in health care; and two key fixes to the ACA that she believes are absolutely necessary in order to make it work, or work as best it can. First of all, she expressed her delight at the passage of a federal law nudging us ever closer to universal coverage, combined with dismay at its failure to address rising costs (noting that we're looking at policies yielding an accumulated Medicare deficit of $90 trillion, as compared to an annual GDP of $12-14 trillion) and a... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008415 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:39:44 +0100 5008415 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008142&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6usEuUaq3lA%2F By Michael F. CannonColumbia Business School economist Ray Fisman has a piece at Slate.com discussing the first-year results of the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment.  In brief, when Oregon transferred an average of $3,000 from taxpayers to poor people in the form of Medicaid coverage, it did those poor people some good. Fisman’s interpretation of the results is different from mine in mainly two respects.  First, I describe the one-year benefits of Medicaid coverage as modest; he says they’re “enormous.” A more fundamental difference concerns whether expanding Medicaid was a cost-effective use of the taxpayers’ money.  Fisman writes: Given the added expense, did the Medicaid expansion prove to be cost-effective? That is, did the treatment group actually... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008142 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:18:54 +0100 5008142 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008124&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FbIP03PxkBXo%2F A new research paper gives the clearest answer yet to a key question: how are people affected by gaining health insurance? A study of people who got new Medicaid coverage shows that they received significantly more care, including preventive checks and hospital admissions, improved their financial situation, and felt better. “Having Medicaid made a big difference in many dimensions,” Amy Finkelstein, an MIT economics professor and lead author of the paper, tells the Health Blog. The issue is more important than ever, with a huge new influx of Medicaid beneficiaries and other newly-covered people expected in 2014 due to the health-overhaul law. But it’s always been tough for researchers to get a good picture of the effects of new health coverage. In the real world, there are li... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008124 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:59:04 +0100 5008124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008145&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjXYSHkY0CKg%2F By Michael F. CannonThe Oregon Health Insurance Experiment is the first experiment since the dawn of time that randomly assigns some households to receive health insurance (Medicaid) for purposes of comparing their medical consumption, health outcomes, and financial security to similar households that do not receive Medicaid coverage.  Some of the nation’s top health economists have released the first batch of results from the OHIE. At National Review (Online), I summarize the OHIE’s first-year results and offer the following analysis: Supporters of President Obama’s health-care law may tout these benefits, but the OHIE does not provide the vindication they seek. First, despite being eligible for Medicaid, 13 percent of the control group had private health insurance — s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008145 Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:46:38 +0100 5008145 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008474&cid=t_99797_129_f&fid=36038&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Ftrevis-life-with-multiple-sclerosis-ms%2Fa-matter-of-perspective%2F Back from a fortnight holiday in Ireland and trying to get my body to understand the new time zone (and my brain to remember to drive on the right side of the road). This couple of weeks away from home, traveling with my sister’s family in another country, has brought the concept of perspective to mind pretty heavily. Let’s face it, multiple sclerosis changes the way we look at almost everything in our lives. I’ve often said that MS doesn’t take away our future; it takes away what we thought our future was going to be. Taking a step away from the everyday world — even the everyday world with MS — can give us all a chance to adjust our perspective goggles and see things through a new lens. A medical news story developed while I was there which put a stark light onto not ... Life with MS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008474 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:35:48 +0100 5008474 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008114&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F06%2Fhypercostitis-political-theater-in-massachusetts%2F The Play’s the Thing. America boasts the highest health care costs on God’s green earth, and Massachusetts spends more per capita than any other state. Some might say we have a problem. On June 30th, Massachusetts completed four days of hearings on run-away medical costs — what drives them and how to rein them in. [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008114 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:35:34 +0100 5008114 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008078&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fhere-comes-your-new-doctor-brought-to.html A long time ago, practicing physicians were mainly self-employed solo practitioners. As health care became more bureaucratic, physicians formed group practices as partnerships, which sometimes employed additional junior or part-time physicians. Some physicians worked for non-profit practice foundations, often affiliated with academic medical institutions, sometimes with non-profit physician-run health insurers, like some Kaiser plans. However, traditionally, almost no practicing physicians were employed by for-profit corporations. In fact, until about 30 years ago, it was considered unethical for physicians' practices to be "commercialized, or treated like a commodity in trade." (See posts here and here.)That is all changing, and apparently quickly.We recently discussed how a private equit... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008078 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:18:00 +0100 5008078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008115&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F05%2Fjosts-look-at-court-fight-over-reform-tops-ha-blogs-june-most-read-list%2F Tim Jost’s analysis of crucial appellate arguments over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act leads June’s list of most-read Health Affairs Blog posts. Jost examines the arguments before the federal Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in a challenge to the legislation brought by more than half the states and the National Federation of Independent [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008115 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:31:47 +0100 5008115 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008382&cid=t_99797_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2F4-factors-driving-hospital-satellite-emergency-department-development The satellite emergency department market is doing well, and from what I have seen, as attractive to patients as hospitals looking to implement them. Satellite emergency clinics are much what they sound like: a remote facility, often time located off campus from the hospital, which perform very similar types of services as a hospital emergency room. read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008382 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:48:36 +0100 5008382 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997642&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fhow-doctors-and-labs-fool-patients.html In this report, the Prior Risk ( risk prior to doing the test) of the patient having a baby with the chromosomal anomaly called Down syndrome is 1:140. This is considered to be High Risk - the baby has a 1 in 140 chance of being abnormal . Now, after doing the test, the Posterior Risk ( risk calculated after taking the test results into account) has dropped dramatically to only 1:7500 ( which means there is a 7499:7500 chance that the baby does NOT have Down syndrome ! ) This is a very reassuring report, which means the doctor can counsel the patient she does not have to worry.However , rather than do this, this doctor chose to highlight ( see the black arrow she has drawn with her hand in the right column) the 1:140 printed High Risk figure in this report. She has told her patient that th... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997642 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:21:00 +0100 4997642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5057911&cid=t_99797_147_f&fid=39202&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnicolaziady.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fhealthcare-seeker-demographic%2F Four in five internet users have researched health info on the web. Health information seekers account for 59% of all US adults. Yet as healthcare marketers we spend millions trying to find, reach and convert these evasive surfers! Who are they? What do they look for? I have sourced a demographic breakdown from the Pew Internet and Life Project research which breaks down our audience and will share it with you today. It is also common for health info seekers to be research on behalf of someone else, such as a parent. According to Pew, nearly half of web users who looked for health info online most recently did so for another person. Seven in 10 health info seekers were currently caring for a loved one. Gender Breakdown :: As common healthcare decision makers it is no surprise that women m... Nicola Ziady blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5057911 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:58:46 +0100 5057911 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992681&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.changehealthcare.com%2Fdownloads%2Fhcti%2FHCTI_Q42010.pdf My mama told me you’d better shop around, as Smokey Robinson also told us. We now know it pays to shop the prices for digital imaging. The price of an MRI of the brain ranges from a low of $825 to a high of $3,600 within the Southeast region of the U.S. In the Northeast, the low is $1,540 and the high, $3,500. There are similar price “spreads” in other regions of the country for the same imaging study, and across other imaging modalities such as PET and CT. The greatest regional variances by service type are for MRI scans of the brain, varying 747% between a low price of $425 in the Southwest to a high of $3,600 in the Southeast, based on an analysis from change: healthcare‘s Q2 2011 Healthcare Transparency Index. USA Today reported on this study on June 30, 2011. Christopher Park... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992681 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:47:47 +0100 4992681 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992647&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FRb9MlJdtTh4%2F Coverage Decisions: Medicare will cover Dendreon’s Provenge for certain forms of advanced prostate cancer, calling the $93,000 treatment “reasonable and necessary,” the WSJ reports. (Here’s the decision memo.) Medicare will also continue to cover Roche’s Avastin for breast-cancer patients, even if the FDA follows the advice of its outside advisory committee and revokes approval for that use, the New York Times reports. Anti-Obesity Laws Challenged: Local laws requiring restaurants to eliminate trans fats, label menus with calorie counts and institute other anti-obesity measures are being banned by state legislatures, the NYT reports. Public-health groups say state restaurant lobbies are behind the new state-level efforts; the National Restaurant Association te... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992647 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:49:19 +0100 4992647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992663&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWDPbtvqoKXw%2F By Michael F. CannonObamaCare expands coverage mostly by cramming tens of millions of Americans into Medicaid, about which the Government Accountability Office just released these data: Click here for the full Government Accountability Office report. That’s Not Healthy: the GAO on Medicaid’s Lousy Access to Care is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992663 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:49:38 +0100 4992663 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992664&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVJ1uklflLnM%2F By Michael F. CannonFrom the June 2011 Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll (by “health reform” they mean ObamaCare): That’s Not Healthy: KFF Poll Results Not Kind to ObamaCare is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992664 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:48:37 +0100 4992664 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984408&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F06%2F30%2Fin-first-appellate-case-a-significant-victory-for-the-affordable-care-act%2F On June 29, 2011, the Sixth Circuit federal court of appeals held that Congress has the power under the Constitution to adopt the minimum coverage requirement of the Affordable Care Act. The decision in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama is very significant for several reasons.  First, it is the first ruling by a federal [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984408 Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:22:04 +0100 4984408 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984442&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2Fff8Oq-VAK_A%2F Health is where we live, play, work and pray — and also where we moisturize. Eucerin is working to create a Skin Savvy Nation. Welcome, health consumers, to the Eucerin Skin Health Cost Calculator, a tool that quantifies the financial impacts of skincare habits by estimating the life-cycle costs and benefits those skin health habits would have. The Calculator takes the consumer through a battery of questions together which yield a “skin score.” These include personal health habits such as not smoking, using skin-protecting moisturizer on a daily basis, and staying out of the sun. Eucerin gauges the cost of poor skincare at $400 billion a year in the U.S., about $400 per capita for each American. This is part of Eucerin’s PR campaign called the “Skin First Movement,” in wh... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984442 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:09:26 +0100 4984442 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975829&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FRiV-GAJmBbo%2F By Michael F. CannonHere we have the spectacle of a former Republican Health and Human Services secretary getting rich by helping states implement ObamaCare. Leavitt Partners (among other consultants) is helping states create the law’s health insurance “Exchanges.” Or the non-ObamaCare-compliant health insurance Exchanges that will by law become ObamaCare-compliant Exchanges.  Via Politico: More than $300 million in exchange grants has already flowed into the states since the Affordable Care Act passed. That number will grow exponentially in the coming months, as states move from the initial steps of passing exchange legislation to the more lucrative task of setting them up. For health consultants and information technology vendors, it’s already shaping up to be a gold mine&#8... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975829 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:41:55 +0100 4975829 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975831&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbzPa0WW5aBI%2F By Michael F. CannonThat’s the subject of my latest Kaiser Health News column: Obamacare passes two milestones this month. It has been exactly two years since the first version of the legislation appeared in Congress. And it has now enjoyed exactly two years of solid public opposition. Yet this month has been harsher than most. It is almost enough to make you feel sorry for ObamaCare.  Almost. For ObamaCare, June Has Been a Very Cold Month is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975831 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:29:49 +0100 4975831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4976011&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2FgOiD_T8Xjis%2Ftweets-from-american-health-lawyers-association-annual-meeting-2011.html Here's a window into the American Health Lawyers Association Annual Meeting this week in Boston: Tweets by me and a few others from the event.  If you are within range of Boston and would like to join health lawyers, health IT, health care social media, Health 2.0 and related communities for a tweetup, we'd like to see you, after the social media sessions at the Annual Meeting (whether or not you are attending the Annual Meeting).  Feel free to read more more about the social media sessions (I'll be speaking on the subject this afternoon) and please RSVP to the #AHLABostonTweetup invite if you can join us at 5:30.   <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&tas... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4976011 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:18:17 +0100 4976011 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4976010&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2F34OX0bwEwBo%2Fdavid-harlow-presents-social-media-session-at-american-health-lawyers-association-annual-meeting.html I am speaking today at the American Health Lawyers Association annual meeting on the uses of social media by attorneys. I am sharing two versions of my slides from this session: one that is text-rich and full of useful links, and one that is much nicer to look at and more engaging for a live audience. Enjoy one or both, and let me know what you think in the comments.  If you are off-site, please tweet a shout-out to me @healthblawg tagged #AHLABoston a little after 3 p.m. ET, so we can show the folks in Boston the reach of Twitter, and let us know where you're tweeting from. AHLA Annual Meeting 2011 Social Media Legal Marketing Resources by David Harlow View more presentations from David Harlow. AHLA Annual Meeting 2011 Social Media for Lawyers by David Harlow ... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4976010 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 05:56:01 +0100 4976010 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975821&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FZzdnVg-ddDc%2F It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of physicians that will likely only get worse when the health-care overhaul law brings an estimated 33 million new people into the health-care system starting in 2014. To gauge the current access situation, the government is planning a mystery shopper program that is already raising the hackles of some physicians, the New York Times reports. Federal contractors will pose as potential patients and call more than 4,000 physicians to see if they are accepting patients, how long the wait for different types of care is and whether the answers vary depending on whether the “patient” has private or public insurance. (A fraction of the doctors will be called back by contractors asking similar questions but identifying themselves as HHS... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975821 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:17:59 +0100 4975821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975841&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fm_tMpvIn4JY%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThis new video, based in large part on the good work of Michael Cannon, explains why Medicaid should be shifted to the states. As I note in the title of this post, it’s good federalism policy and good fiscal policy. But the video also explains that Medicaid reform is good health policy since it creates an opportunity to deal with the third-party payer problem. One of the key observations of the video is that Medicaid block grants would replicate the success of welfare reform. Getting rid of the federal welfare entitlement in the 1990s and shifting the program to the states was a very successful policy, saving billions of dollars for taxpayers and significantly reducing poverty. There is every reason to think ending the Medicaid entitlement will have similar positive... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975841 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:55:48 +0100 4975841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975859&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2F-NditOzSIT8%2F Every year on June 27th the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) organizes National HIV Testing Day (NHTD), in partnership with other national and local groups. They do this to send the message to both those at risk and those already living with HIV that it is critical to know your HIV status. This year marks the 17th NHTD. The CDC estimates approximately 21 percent of the 1.3 million Americans living with HIV are unaware that they have it. Voluntary HIV counseling and testing is the important first step in taking control and responsibility over one’s health, their message for NHTD “Take the Test, Take Control” reflects this. As the HIV epidemic turns thirty it is more important than ever to to heed their message. For More Information: CMS National Coverage Dete... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975859 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:29:26 +0100 4975859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975845&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FH4gEql8vpE8%2F By Ilya ShapiroIn an important but little-noted First Amendment case decided Thursday, Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., the Supreme Court correctly invalidated a particular regulation of commercial speech but unfortunately left intact the general doctrine that distinguishes and privileges noncommercial speech.  Justice Kennedy authored the 6-3 decision (joined not just by the “conservatives” but also Justice Sotomayor) that struck down a Vermont law prohibiting the sale of information about doctors’ prescription histories as making viewpoint-based speech restrictions in violation of the First Amendment.  In so ruling, the Court effectively affirmed a Second Circuit decision (involving a similar Connecticut law) I discussed previously.  Cato filed amicus briefs in both the Second Circui... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975845 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:01:36 +0100 4975845 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968485&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fis-your-cell-phone-carrying-bacteria%2F2011.06.26 Alright doctors, time to give up the cell phones. (Never mind that there has not been a study linking cell phones and hospital acquired infections). From the American Journal of Infection Control: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine bacterial colonization on the mobile phones (MPs) used by patients, patients’ companions, visitors, and health care workers (HCWs). Significantly higher rates of pathogens (39.6% vs 20.6%, respectively; P = .02) were found in MPs of patients’ (n = 48) versus the HCWs’ (n = 12). There were also more multidrug pathogens in the patents’ MPs including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella spp, high-level aminoglycoside-resistant Enterococcus spp, ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968485 Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:00:00 +0100 4968485 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968492&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmedical-students-deterred-from-primary-care%2F2011.06.25 Primary care physicians are getting paid more, two surveys agree, while hospital employment is rising. Internists earned $205,379 in median compensation in 2010, an increase of 4.21% over the previous year, reported the Medical Group Management Association’s (MGMA’s) Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data. Family practitioners (without obstetrics) reported median compensation of $189,402. Pediatric/adolescent medicine physicians earned $192,148 in median compensation, an increase of 0.39% since 2009. Among specialists, anesthesiologists reported decreased compensation, as did gastroenterologists and radiologists. Psychiatrists, dermatologists, neurologists and general surgeons reported an increase in median compensation since 2009. Regional... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968492 Sat, 25 Jun 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4968492 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968661&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2Fxx0GnFs4A0k%2Fmassachusetts-healthcare-reform-experiment-analyzed-attoney-general-martha-coakley-are-we-ready-for-global-payment-.html Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley released her office's second annual report, An Examination of Health Care Cost Trends and Drivers (PDF; see also press release), which contains a wealth of critical data analysis -- and also highlights how little we know about certain things -- providing some important context for the discussion of the proposed Part III of Massachusetts health reform, a bill filed by Governor Patrick which would create all-payor ACOs and a system of global payments. At this late date, few would argue against a move a way from fee-for-service reimbursement for health care, or adding quality metrics to the mix, and tying financial rewards to providers to their performance measured against these metrics.  (Consider the Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield ACQ (a... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968661 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:50:55 +0100 4968661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968442&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F06%2F24%2Festablishing-sensible-cost-sharing-for-medicare-cancer-patients%2F A new study by Avalere Health, presented at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, analyzed the pharmacy claims of 10,508 commercially-insured and Medicare patients who required oral therapy for cancer. The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of cost-sharing on the abandonment of these medications. The analysis showed [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968442 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:19:10 +0100 4968442 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968464&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkY82WaVaaUo%2F By Jim HarperThe Supreme Court’s decision in Sorrell vs. IMS Health is being touted in many quarters as a privacy case, and a concerning one at that. Example: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released a statement saying “the Supreme Court has overturned a sensible Vermont law that sought to protect the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship.” That’s a stretch. The Vermont law at issue restricted the sale, disclosure, and use of pharmacy records that revealed the prescribing practices of doctors if that information was to be used in marketing by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Under the law, prescription drug salespeople—”detailers” in industry parlance—could not access information about doctors’ prescribing to use in focusing their effort... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968464 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:37:08 +0100 4968464 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968662&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2FJsCTlY3xPP4%2Fspeaking-engagements-health-care-social-media-acos-and-more.html I spoke recently at a MassMEDIC conference about the FDA and social media, and on a webinar presented by the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media (with which I am associated, as a member of its external advisory board) and Ragan Communications, and I will be speaking at a number of upcoming conferences.  It occurred to me that it would be worthwhile to share information about these events for those who may be interested. Feedback I've received from some program participants is that topics covered in an hour-long session on health care social media sometimes get short shrift.  For those who may be interested in more in-depth treatment of some issues, I'll call to your attention the webinar series to be held in mid-July (four hours over two days).  Let us know about any particular areas o... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968662 Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:58:49 +0100 4968662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960038&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJ-yhJMjYKaQ%2F By Adam SchaefferE.D. Kain has a post up here (and here) comparing and contrasting vouchers in education and health care. It’s an interesting post that manages both insight and remarkable oversights in a very short space. And the insight and oversights are bound up with each other: I think it’s a consistent position to support both single-payer health care – something many progressives advocate – and single-payer education – something many libertarians advocate. . . [Medicare] is a lot like what many school choice advocates want. They want government to foot the bill, but they don’t want them to provide the service, or at least not exclusively. This approach works for Medicare, and it could work for schools also. What we really need is single-payer education – not single-... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960038 Thu, 23 Jun 2011 01:20:16 +0100 4960038 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960066&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fsuggestions-for-minimizing-spending-in-oncology%2F2011.06.22 Recently the NEJM ran a Sounding Board piece on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care. The author’s take on this problem: Annual direct costs for cancer care are projected to rise — from $104 billion in 2006 to over $173 billion in 2020 and beyond.2…Medical oncologists directly or indirectly control or influence the majority of cancer care costs, including the use and choice of drugs, the types of supportive care, the frequency of imaging, and the number and extent of hospitalizations… The article responds, in part, to Dr. Howard Brody’s 2010 proposal that each medical specialty society find five ways to reduce waste in health care. The authors, from the Divisions of Hematology-Oncology and Palliative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond VA, offer two lists: S... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960066 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:00:34 +0100 4960066 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960013&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F06%2F22%2Fa-physician-fallow-program-to-improve-quality-safety-and-costs%2F In a recent New York Times op-ed, Rita Redberg MD, a cardiologist and Chief Editor of Archives of Internal Medicine, described the American health system’s penchant for delivering high volumes of “procedures and devices [to] patients who get no benefit and incur risks from them.” The culprit, of course, is fee-for-service reimbursement, used by Medicare, Medicaid and commercial [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960013 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:12:02 +0100 4960013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4959995&cid=t_99797_85_f&fid=34967&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdocisinblog%2FwNlq%2F%7E3%2FiMBgUWNcbdY%2F Word of my demise, widespread and nefarious as it has been, is most assuredly premature. I must put these scurrilous rumors to rest… But life has been, well, most interesting… The past year or so has been one of the most challenging in many a season, on a number of fronts. Professionally, the passage of Obamacare has made it abundantly clear that the independent private practitioner is a dying breed, and likely will disappear — with the exception of cash-only, concierge-style arrangements — within the next few years. The administrative burden is crushing — unfunded mandates, such as pay-for-performance, compliance programs, HIPAA, mandated “government certified” EMRs (even though existing, non-certified ones are fully functional), and intrusive, ab... The Doctor Is In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4959995 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:02:32 +0100 4959995 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4960048&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsY-ZhuO_Op8%2F By Ilya ShapiroAs followers of this blog recognize, Obamacare has more constitutional defects than just the individual mandate or even the coercive use of Medicaid funds.  One issue that is getting increasing attention (see the Weekly Standard, National Review, and George Will) is this weird new entity called the Independent Payment Advisory Board. IPAB, which Sarah Palin famously labeled a “death panel,” will exercise virtually unchecked power to set Medicare reimbursement rates—without political or legal oversight by any branch of government.  It’s reminiscent of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the part of the Sarbanes-Oxley financial regulation law that the Supreme Court found partially unconstitutional last year.  Except it has the power of life ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4960048 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:43:32 +0100 4960048 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953082&cid=t_99797_114_f&fid=34648&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHealthBlawg%2F%7E3%2FPE8g9xAh860%2Ftweetup-at-the-ahla-annual-meeting-in-boston.html Come join Bob Coffield (@bobcoffield) and me, together with other speakers, attendees and camp followers from the American Health Lawyers Association, for a tweetup next Tuesday, June 28, 2011, at 5:30 or so at BrasserieJO, at the Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Avenue, Boston.  We hope to introduce the AHLA to some members of Boston's Health 2.0 community and other folks interested in all (or some) things healthcare, legal and/or social media. Check out the TwtVite, let us know if you'll be joining us, and spread the word. As Bob posted earlier today: The TWEETup follows an afternoon of health care social media and the law sessions held as a part of the AHLA Annual Meeting. For full details of the sessions and registration information check out the AHLA Annual Meeting schedule here (P... HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953082 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:49:31 +0100 4953082 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953346&cid=t_99797_147_f&fid=39202&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnicolaziady.com%2F2011%2F06%2F5-tips-to-socialize-your-online-videos%2F Recent studies show 50% of all web traffic is now video And it’s share of the internet `pie’ keeps growing.  To prove it, Youtube alone today accounts for 12% of ALL web traffic. This makes locally optimized video content even more important to having a competitive advantage in the marketplace. There are a few key things we can do to ensure our videos, content and players are optimized for social media. Enable social sharing buttons in players ::  keeping them “on” makes it easy for viewers to start sharing your videos. Promote sharing at video completion :: remind viewers that their next step can be to share your video. Embed click-able calls to action :: consider equipping your video player with clickable call to action overlays that draw engaged viewers back to your s... Nicola Ziady blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953346 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:25:32 +0100 4953346 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952789&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOk07p3xWv7g%2F By Michael F. CannonRemember how ObamaCare inadvertently kicked members of Congress out of their health insurance plans?  (Just kidding!  The Obama administration ignored that part of the law!) Well, today we learned that ObamaCare also inadvertently gives free health care to millions of middle-class Social Security recipients: President Barack Obama’s health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed. The change would affect early retirees: A married couple could have an annual income of about $64,000 and still get Medicaid, said officials who make long-range cost estimates for the Health and Human Services department. Up to 3 mil... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952789 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:26:38 +0100 4952789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952834&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2F-eAzFLBs7og%2F Beginning September 2012, FDA will require larger, more prominent cigarette health warnings on all cigarette packaging and advertisements in the United States.  These warnings mark the first change in cigarette warnings in more than 25 years and are a significant and necessary advancement in communicating the dangers of smoking. The final set of cigarette health warnings contains nine different text warnings and accompanying color graphics to: increase awareness of the specific health risks associated with smoking, such as death, addiction, lung disease, cancer, stroke and heart disease; encourage smokers to quit; and empower youth to say no to tobacco. The above is one of the new warnings; to see more of the new warnings of to learn more about them click here. Watch today’s ann... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952834 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:41:40 +0100 4952834 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952780&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FZhYZYUgMMGU%2F Medical Cases: The Supreme Court will hear an appeal from the Mayo Clinic challenging two Prometheus Laboratories patents for a diagnostic test determining drug dosages for certain autoimmune diseases, the WSJ reports. Mayo says Prometheus is trying to patent medical observations of a natural phenomenon; the company says its patents “describe concrete and improved methods of treating seriously ill patients.” Separately, the court said it wouldn’t consider an appeal by Pfizer’s Wyeth unit of a $58 million judgment in favor of three women who claimed Wyeth’s hormone-replacement drugs caused their breast cancer, the WSJ reports. Auditing Recalls: An audit of the FDA’s procedures for removing contaminated imported foods from U.S. shelves found the agency did... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952780 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:55:34 +0100 4952780 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952801&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQwv2iThY9Gw%2F By Michael F. CannonIn press release, a new video, and an elusive new report, the Obama administration is boasting about the “free” preventive services that ObamaCare provides to Medicare enrollees. Here we go again. First, these preventive-care subsidies are not “free.” They are costing taxpayers dearly by adding to America’s $14 trillion national debt.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.  And there is nothing “free” about ObamaCare. Second, ObamaCare supporters have claimed that more preventive care would reduce health care spending, but research shows that it will not. Third, I hope someone is keeping track of all the taxpayer dollars this administration has wasted trying to convince the American people that they’re wrong to dislike O... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952801 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:55:46 +0100 4952801 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953062&cid=t_99797_113_f&fid=38236&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthcareitnews.com%2Fblog%2F4-innovative-hospital-programs-driving-efficiency A new Health and Human Services (HHS) initiative, Partnership for Patients, is calling hospitals to focus on nine specific types of medical errors where the potential is great for increased care. The initiative has two over arching goals: keep hospitals patients’ symptoms from worsening, and facilitate patients’ treatment process from the hospital environment to other care settings. This ambitious project’s goal is to reduce readmissions by 20% by 2013. read more (Source: Healthcare IT News Blog) Healthcare IT News Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953062 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:14:47 +0100 4953062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952783&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FfHUKuGPZ8jE%2F Waivers to End: After Sept. 22, employers won’t be able to apply for a waiver of the health-care overhaul law’s $750,000 minimum annual-benefit payout requirement, the WSJ reports. Health-benefit providers can be exempted from the requirement if it would mean a significant premium boost or benefits reduction; those receiving waivers so far have mostly been employers offering so-called mini-med, or limited-benefit, plans, the paper says. Not So Harmless: A study published in Pediatrics finds that an average of 23 kids drown each year in portable pools, in some cases in only a few inches of water, USA Today reports. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 11% of all pool drownings among kids under five occur in portable pools. Parents need to supervise kids jus... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952783 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:56:28 +0100 4952783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953126&cid=t_99797_118_f&fid=34852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.joepaduda.com%2Farchives%2F002109.html Austin Frakt's piece discussing the latest research findings tells us what we've long suspected - high deductible plans don't seem to reduce cost trends. Frakt highlights an analysis by Katherine Swartz of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an analysis that... (Source: Managed Care Matters) Managed Care Matters blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953126 Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4953126 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952812&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBR5qQ-iEAFA%2F By Michael F. CannonSome quick hits from today’s health care news: As I predicted, the physicians lobby balks at ObamaCare‘s accountable care organization (ACOs) program, saying, obliquely: “Give us more money.” GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty left AHIP members and some reporters confused about how a person can support ACOs but still want to repeal ObamaCare. He and they should have read my column on ACOs. Pawlenty also endorsed a public option when he said his Medicare reform proposal would preserve Parts A, B, and D.  He should have read my papers on a public option and Medicare reform (with Chris Edwards). Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) says he will fight “to the end” to keep low-income Americans dependent on lousy government health care pro... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952812 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:21:15 +0100 4952812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952777&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F06%2F17%2Fthe-mixed-demerits-of-bending-the-cost-curve%2F Political scientists emphasize the importance of “framing” in policy debates.  The health care cost control debate in the United States has been reframed by the promotion of a metaphor, “bending the curve.”  This metaphor has merits but they are decidedly mixed. The sudden popularity of the idea of “bending the cost curve” is significant because [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952777 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:41:22 +0100 4952777 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953279&cid=t_99797_136_f&fid=35316&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnotjustaboutcancer.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fshort-term-planning.html I kind of left you in suspense yesterday.I was sitting an exam room, waiting to see my oncologist to discuss whether I could continue my break from chemo. Here's what happened next:We waited.We played a little Lexulous.I knit. My hands shook a little. And then the door swung open and Dr. B. entered the room. Dr. B. is not my oncologist. The cancer centre has a title called GPO (which I assume means general practitioner - oncology) for doctors who work with the oncologists. I hadn't seen Dr. B. in more than a year and without hesitating, we hugged each other - something I've never done with any doctor. She's wonderful and she's the only doctor I trust as much as my oncologist.After a physical exam (liver is where it should be and the size it should be. Chest sounds fine) and looki... Not just about cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953279 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0100 4953279 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934729&cid=t_99797_136_f&fid=35316&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnotjustaboutcancer.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fnot-so-jaded-after-all.html Yesterday, I had an appointment with my oncologist, the first since our decision that I should take a break from chemo and do Herceptin only for three months.I usually do my appointments over the phone but I decided to go into the cancer centre so that I could have a physical exam and meet with him face to face. Also, I wanted Tim to come with me, so that he would get the same info as I did first hand and have a chance to ask questions. One of the great things about doing appointments on the phone is that I can carry on with my life around the house as I wait for my call. I was reminded of this after waiting first in the waiting area and then in the exam room for nearly an hour.But it was worth it.The first person I met was the nurse who works with my oncologist. It was the first time we m... Not just about cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934729 Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:38:00 +0100 4934729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934105&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fs1ni4ltEjis%2F By Michael F. CannonThe New York Times reports on a study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine: Children with Medicaid are far more likely than those with private insurance to be turned away by medical specialists or be made to wait more than a month for an appointment, even for serious medical problems, a new study finds… Sixty-six percent of those who mentioned Medicaid-CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) were denied appointments, compared with 11 percent who said they had private insurance… In 89 clinics that accepted both kinds of patients, the waiting time for callers who said they had Medicaid was an average of 22 days longer. “It’s very disturbing,” [study author] Dr. [Karen V.] Rhodes said. “As a mother, if I had a kid who was havi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934105 Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:25:21 +0100 4934105 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934110&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPghU4WPAWks%2F By Walter OlsonAs readers may know, I’ve been beating the drum for a while on the increasingly dangerous shortages that doctors are encountering in the availability of common, off-patent drugs used in hospital and clinical settings, including drugs that are important in chemotherapy, anesthesia, and infection control. Among the reasons for the shortages: the Food and Drug Administration has toughened its regulation of pharmaceutical makers in ways that lead to manufacturing line shutdowns and withdrawals from production. John Goodman has a must-read blog post at Health Affairs Blog on the mounting crisis, amplified by a post by George Mason economist Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution, getting into further specifics. In particular: • 246 drugs are now considered to be in shortage... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934110 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:43:06 +0100 4934110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934398&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fusing-mdconsult-for-cme-for-indian.html While the internet is a great way of delivering medical information to doctors at the "point of care", the trouble with the web is that it can be very hard for doctors to find the content they need. How can they trust the information ? how reliable is it ? has it been updated ?A far better option is MDConsult ! MDConsult allows doctors to remain uptodate by providing online instant access to the FULL-TEXT of over 40 respected medical books and 50 prestigious medical journals which are constantly updated. This means the doctor will never need to buy another medical book in his life ! Even better, he can be reassured that the information he is referring to is reliable and trustworthy !MDConsult provides high quality CME, convenience and peace of mind at the doctor's desktop - for only Rs 999... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934398 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:32:00 +0100 4934398 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4945098&cid=t_99797_137_f&fid=39091&url=http%3A%2F%2Falzheimmers.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fnew-blog-meidcal-fiction-writer-and.html Good Day. Long time no blog. I have been busy with some Health Care Issues lately. In fact I have been down to Mayo Clinic twice since I last blogged. (Great Venipuncturists at Mayo, also fairly decent restaurants in Rochester, MN) I won't bore you with the details right now, needless to say it sucks, but then you go on as best you can,  as time keeps marching on.Also I have been busy trying to survive as a Private Practice Physician in the State of Minnesota, despite the best efforts of  many bureaucracies and agencies to annihilate entities like myself: all done of course shouting the Battle Cry and in the name of health care "REFORM".  When it is all said and done, we will still need doctors to take care of patients and patient... Caregiver Survival: I Hate Alzheimers blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4945098 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:22:00 +0100 4945098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934118&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMYEXRd0k45I%2F By Michael F. CannonI ask this question in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell…says Obamacare is unconstitutional and therefore illegitimate. Yet he has created a state commission to study whether Virginia should implement an illegitimate law. Since the answer does not appear self-evident to commonwealth officials, let’s walk through the reasons Richmond should refuse to create any new health-care bureaucracies. Didn’t this guy take an oath to support the U.S. Constitution? Why Is Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell Implementing ObamaCare? is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934118 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:30:45 +0100 4934118 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934119&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FzYWU6uQ_uAY%2F This article chronicles the (first) year I spent opposing the constitutionality of Obamacare: Between debates, briefs, op-eds, blogging, testimony, and media, I have spent well over half of my time since the legislation’s enactment on attacking Congress’s breathtaking assertion of federal power in this context. Braving transportation snafus, snowstorms, and Eliot Spitzer, it’s been an interesting ride. And so, weaving legal arguments into first-person narrative, I hope to add a unique perspective to an important debate that goes to the heart of this nation’s founding principles. The individual mandate is Obamacare’s highest-profile and perhaps most egregious constitutional violation because the Supreme Court has never allowed – Congress has never claimed – the power to requir... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934119 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:06:01 +0100 4934119 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934401&cid=t_99797_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F06%2Findian-doctors-learning-and-cme.html In reality, all learning is self-learning. We talk about teaching doctors to help them keep uptodate, but in reality, no one can teach anyone else - it's only the student who can learn ! A good teacher will provide as many avenues and opportunities as possible, so that students can learn for themselves.Adult learners are a different breed - and this is especially true for doctors, who are highly qualified and very busy professionals, with major time constraints.Not only is it hard for them to take time out of their busy schedules to learn, it's even more important for us to ensure that whatever techniques we use to teach doctors, these are proven to be effective in helping doctors to improve their knowledgebase.Unfortunately, lectures and presentations at medical conferences are very ineff... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934401 Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:25:00 +0100 4934401 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921376&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Flmqf9LaNARY%2F “Non” and “Nein” on Actos: France and Germany have halted the use of Takeda’s diabetes drug Actos, also known as pioglitazone, after a study suggested it could raise the risk of bladder cancer, Dow Jones Newswires reports. The European Medicines Agency is doing its own safety review, and the FDA is conducting an observational study of the drug, DJN reports. Reuters notes that other individual European countries have not followed France’s and Germany’s lead. Unaware?: The health-care overhaul law entitles about 44 million people to an external review of denied insurance claims, but most plans won’t be required to tell them about that right until next year, Kaiser Health News reports. That means some consumers may stay in the dark about their a... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921376 Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:42:16 +0100 4921376 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953051&cid=t_99797_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FWTfa7200mAM%2F I was witness to an interesting discussion earlier this week at the Wisconsin Technology Network’s Digital Healthcare Conference in Madison, Wis.: Is meaningful use a floor or a ceiling? One panelist, Judy Murphy, VP of information services at Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee, said Stage 1 meaningful use has caused the health system to alter its own IT plans by activating a patient portal and moving more toward interoperability sooner than intended. “We wouldn’t have decided to give electronic copies of clinical summaries at discharge [without meaningful use],” Murphy said. But Murphy believes it’s a floor for many of the criteria, such as the requirement that 30 percent of patients have at least one medication order entered electronically. “No one would ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953051 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:16:34 +0100 4953051 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4921377&cid=t_99797_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=4921370&cid=t_99797_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F06%2F09%2Fanalyzing-a-crucial-battle-in-the-legal-war-over-health-reform%2F For a lawyer, the argument of Florida v. the Department of Health and Human Services before a three judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals on Wednesday, June 8, was a beauty to behold.  (For a non-lawyer it was probably tedious, repetitive, and much too long).  Three active and very well-prepared judges [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4921370 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:44:03 +0100 4921370