I found this an interesting read.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aLzfDxfbwhzs

Originally Posted by ejp52

I found this an interesting read.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aLzfDxfbwhzs

Interesting article and ironic in a way that you post this. I received a call from Pennsylvania today from a friend who reminded me to make sure I read up on this very provision. I am afraid there is much more...this thing will pass and we will need to live with anything that was forced in and we are being rushed to do it even on items that do not influence our current financial situation, although those supporting claim there is some economic gains to be held. Off to read !!!

Thanks for the link

I am certainly no expert in the medical sciences--other than having more cuts and stitches than most. Yes, I think that something needs to be done to control healthcare costs and provide some sort of healthcare to the 20% or so of Americans who have none. But I surely don't have a comprehensive proposal to accomplish those objectives.

But the Bloomberg op-ed piece does remind me of an article I read that was published by the AMA recommending exactly the type of medical records system described in the article and presumably the current stimulus legislation. As I recall, the AMA ascribes considerable savings to the healthcare system, and substantial improvements in the quality of healthcare as the result of having a national diagnostic data base.

The problem that the AMA said needed to be overcome was the cost of the system for the individual doctor. As I remember the article, they estimated that it would cost each doctor a little less than $100,000 to set the system up in his/her office, and then about $12,000 a year to maintain it. The AMA survey showed that an overwhelming percentage of doctors--almost 90% as I recall--said they couldn't afford those costs, regardless of the benefit, and would not plan on participating. If I understand the description of the proposed legislation, the government is proposing to pick up the tab for this system.

If the program described in the article and in the legislation provides for this type of diagnostic data base, there may be a positive flip side to the story. In my wildest dreams I can't imagine that the primary purpose of such a program is for the government to "...monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate", as asserted by the Bloomberg op-ed writer.

On the other hand, with healthcare costs escalating at a rate that is a multiple of inflation, something needs to be done to reign in those costs. To me a better approach would be medical tort reform, thereby reducing medical insurance premiums and almost certainly all the CYA tests and procedures prescribed by doctors and hospitals. But we all know the chances of getting a bunch of lawyers elected to Congress to limit the income of the legal profession, don't we?

I don't know for sure, but maybe this newly proposed system is the best "second choice" to control healthcare costs.

The author of the Bloomberg op-ed piece doesn't mention any of the advantages of the system. This article reminds me of all those who claim to know what will happen if we build more nuclear reactors. They claim to know exactly what will happen if new reactors are built and do everything they can to slow or stop the process concentrating only on the negatives, however remote they may be. As they beat the tambourines about "more Chernobyls," as mainstream environmental groups hem and haw about how they support nuclear in principle but not in this particular instance, as the public remains confused about whether a reactor really can blow up or become the target of a terrorist attack, completion of a single reactor is unlikely, however valuable they might be in accomplishing energy independence. The Bloomberg article seems to beat the same drums regarding a proposal to reduce healthcare cost and improve quality.

Why are there always so many more naysayers than those with ideas on how to solve problems? Those thoughts are probably easier to derive, I suppose.

Actually, the electronic tracking was brought up a few years ago in the last administration but they did a lousy job of selling and implementing. BUT, I am not sure that it had a provision that specifically allows what this article implies, and that is the montoring of treatment by the government to insure they agree on the treatment.

I can see many merits except that "monitoring" is bothersome. But this bill is on the fast track and trying to wade through all the implications is next to impossible thus I suppose we need to live with it. There is much in this stimulus bill that is not DIRECTLY tied to economic recovery !!!

Just for the record, the link below is from April 2004 !!! If only Bush was able to communicate and actually reach across the aisle !!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/heal...06/detail.html

there was/is no way to overcome the partisan credo espoused by the likes of Pelosi:

"...if it is from the opposition, I am against it..."

Just as Obama is touted as the better communicator....reaching across the aisle....and getting frustrated...lawmakers go by what THEY like....nothing to do with what is right!!! Both parties....that is why we have the mess we have....the condition is exclusive of who sits in the WH or how good or bad they communicate.

BTK

BTK

As I've said many times before...the ship of state turns slowly, but it does turn.

Hopefully, in time, the thoughtless partisans from both sides are replaced with more responsible and statesmanlike representatives of the people. They all don't have to meet that test...just a reasonable majority.

FROM THE QUOTED BLOOMBERG ARTICLE: Elderly Hardest Hit

Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

What a slam against seniors! What Former Senator Daschle doesn't say is that, as a multi-millionaire so rich he "forgets" what he makes and thus doesn't pay tax on the forgotten income, he himself is above any such medical decision-making by virtue of past position and present wealth.

Shades of "Logan's Run!" This only demonstrates the ultra-liberal mindset that if you can kill off the most defenseless of humankind with impunity because of their being at the very front-end of the age-line and an inconvenience to the stronger, it's not long before you can start knocking them off from the furthest end of the age-line as well. This is to be a Land of No Responsibility for those in far-youth and middle-age, and everyone else is an incumbrance which can be discarded "by choice."

"Change you can count on...."

I keep vowing not to even look at political. But a reference to health care grabs me every time. When I opened ejp52's link, the part that jumped out at me was "elderly hardest hit."

While we Boomers will never, ever, ever think of ourselves as "elderly," I shudder to think how we are being viewed by those in power. "Unfunded Liability" comes to mind.

The Baby Boomers........

They had to build more public schools to hold all of us. We crowded the colleges. We have been marketed to since birth. Florida has been expecting us for years.

And now, here we are, the front end has reached early SS and all of us are slouching toward Medicare, at this perilous time in economic history.

The book "Boomsday" is not so funny. I just hope Chris Buckley has not sold the movie rights to his book, intended as a satire, actually as a satire of a satire. If "Boomsday" hits the big screen, discussions could get really interesting.

Let's not be too eager to roll over and play dead. No matter what some of those in power might like to see happen.

Boomer

Hey Steve,

I hit send, looked back, and there you were in the post ahead of me. Thinking just about the same thing it looks like.

I have said for years, "They will issue the Baby Boomers' Medicare cards with a cyanide pill and they will call it Pro-Choice." (and that really is a quote from Boomer. I used to be able to make people laugh with it.) I did not want to be right.

So.....do we get organized or what?

And yes, my name is Boomer.

Originally Posted by Boomer

Hey Steve,

I hit send, looked back, and there you were in the post ahead of me. Thinking just about the same thing it looks like.

I have said for years, "They will issue the Baby Boomers' Medicare cards with a cyanide pill and they will call it Pro-Choice." (and that really is a quote from Boomer. I used to be able to make people laugh with it.) I did not want to be right.

So.....do we get organized or what?

And yes, my name is Boomer.

If we can agree to oust the Congressional incumbents (at least 75% of them) on 2010, then that agreement is "organization."

Hmmm.... I wonder if the stimulus package can include money for "community organizers" to oust anyone who has had more than 8 years in Congress! It seems to be willing to fund "community organizers" for other things......

Working in hospitals for the past two years was a real eye-opener for me as far as medical records are concerned. It seems to be impossible to share records between units never mind between the patient's doctor and the hospital. We've had to redo costly procedures (MRI's, CT's, bone scans etc.) because we didn't have immediate access to the MRI they did last week and we couldn't wait for hand delivery due to the sickness of the patient. Some things can be faxed but the quality isn't always perfect and e-mail isn't acceptable for privacy reasons.

I know it will be costly and there will be privacy issues to address but it needs to get done someday. Is the stimulus plan the place for it? Perhaps not. I think it should be addressed on its own merit.

I am soooooo tired of filling out the new patient forms at every doctor I go to. They always ask the same questions and I answer the same things. At my first visit to the doctor in TV I had to bring all of my prescriptions..that was a load. They wanted to repeat the tests I just had I refused and told them to contact my doctor. No information was ever exchanged

The electronic medical record has been talked about for many, many years and the Medical IT industry has been working on standard interfaces, terms and codes to be used. (I have sat in on some of those discussions)

It not about monitoring its about access to vital information.

Originally Posted by cologal

I am soooooo tired of filling out the new patient forms at every doctor I go to. They always ask the same questions and I answer the same things. At my first visit to the doctor in TV I had to bring all of my prescriptions..that was a load. They wanted to repeat the tests I just had I refused and told them to contact my doctor. No information was ever exchanged

The electronic medical record has been talked about for many, many years and the Medical IT industry has been working on standard interfaces, terms and codes to be used. (I have sat in on some of those discussions)

It not about monitoring its about access to vital information.

I certainly hope you understand the reason to bring in all of your prescriptions.

Originally Posted by rshoffer

I certainly hope you understand the reason to bring in all of your prescriptions.

Actually I could have told her without bringing them in ....but if she had access to my electronic medical record there would be no need.

It would also cut down on the number of patients "shopping for drugs" by going from doctor to doctor.