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Tag Archives: healthcare services
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the unbelievable cost associated with Alzheimer’s disease and how large a population it is likely to affect. According to an op-ed piece written by Sandra Day O’Connor, among others, it is estimated that by 2050 approximately 13.5 million Americans will be stricken with Alzheimer’s, up from five million today, and that the cumulative price tag for treating Alzheimer’s, in current dollars, will be $20 trillion. In contrast, remember that the cost of our ENTIRE healthcare system today is around $2.4 trillion.
This week there was a follow-up piece in the NY Times entitled, “Tests Detect Alzheimer’s Risks, but Should Patients Be Told?” The article described how new diagnostic tests have become available that make it possible to detect early Alzheimer’s and, more interestingly, to predict more accurately one’s likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s in the future. The focus of the article was the moral and ethical dilemma presented by the availability of this knowledge.
Since there is no known treatment for Alzheimer’s and none on the short term horizon, physicians with knowledge of a patient’s Alzheimer’s risk are put in … (read the rest)
Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting Asparagus
Today in a Virginia federal courthouse, Judge Henry Hudson shot a hole through the heart of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. Since the ACA has not gone into full effect, it was unable to afford a cardiologist to close the hole and thus it is currently causing those who support it some serious cardiac arrest. Or so it might seem since the impact of Judge Hudson’s ruling may well result in the lingering death of the ACA as we have come to know and love and hate it.
As you may recall, one of the key provisions of the ACA was a requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance, essentially seeking to spread the risk around when it comes to paying for insurance. By ensuring that both the sick and the well buy insurance, the theory goes, the system’s costs can be stabilized because the overall high cost of providing care to sick people will be averaged out by the typically low costs of caring for the well. It’s pretty fundamental math and is central to the way the cost-increasing provisions of the ACA were to … (read the rest)
It was the best of care, it was the worst of care
Right around Thanksgiving, the King of Saudi Arabia flew to New York City for medical treatment. He had a herniated disk and needed back surgery, which he chose to receive at NY Presbyterian Hospital.
This is not so surprising, as there has been a history of world leaders seeking major medical care in the U.S. when they have faced serious medical conditions. In fact earlier this year, Danny Williams, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador (the Canadian Province not the dog), traveled to Florida to undergo fairly routine heart surgery, creating a serious uproar in Canada where they are quite fond of their own national health system. Williams was reported to have said, “This was my heart, my choice and my health,” he told the Canadian Press from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla., where he was recovering from surgery. “I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics.”
Not that I am proud to quote Fox News, but their response to the Williams story was, “It is a fact beyond dispute that the United States remains the global destination … (read the rest)
Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Uncategorized
Tagged ACA, affordable care act, Commonwealth Fund, Danny Williams, Health Affairs, health insurance, healthcare, healthcare IT, healthcare reform, healthcare services, King Abdullah surgery, life sciences
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Hands Off the Merchandise
You may think of it as the first week of Christmas, but there are some out there that think of this first week of December as National Handwashing Awareness Week. Pay attention Hallmark–another greeting card opportunity is upon you. I’m sure the one you sent me, blog reader, is in the mail.
Christmas has Santa Claus and National Handwashing Awareness Week also has its own mascot, Henry the Hand. Henry (we’re going to be on a first name basis for this post) is the representative of one Dr. Will Sawyer, who founded the Henry the Hand Foundation in 1999 after years being completely grossed out, it seems, by his fellow medical colleagues, who despite having had mothers, some of them even Jewish, simply cannot remember to wash their hands before touching a patient in the hospital.
Dr. Will has been out there waving his Hamburger Helper logo lookalike in an effort to promote a culture of patient safety through his Champion Handwasher Hospital Campaign, a program that helps hospitals improve hand hygiene through a multi-faceted program that includes healthcare worker education, patient feedback, friendly competition and the use … (read the rest)
Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Patient Safety, Uncategorized, Venture Capital
Tagged consumer engagement, hand hygiene, hand washing, healthcare, healthcare IT, healthcare reform, healthcare services, healthcare venture capital, henry the hand, hospital acquired infection, hospitals, nosocomial infection, patient safety, psilos
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We Must Remember This
In the last several weeks I lost my phone (recovered), my iPod (gone) and even a piece of jewelry (I am pretty sure the cat is guilty). I was at the airport when I couldn’t remember where I parked my car for long enough to wonder if I actually did drive myself there. Don’t judge me; I know you do it too. I have a certain relative who would have 25% more free time if only he didn’t constantly forget where he left his pen.
All of us are prone to losing objects and forgetting appointments and struggling for that word on the tip of our tongue that we definitely should know. Sometimes we even forget the names of people who live in our house just for a second; admit it: how many times have you called your kid by the dog’s name? “Hey Fluffy—set the table!” Kids hate that, by the way.
Those momentary lapses of memory can be amusing or frustrating, but they usually don’t slow us down much. We laugh it off and say, “wow, I must be getting old” and move on to the next task. … (read the rest)
Gentlemen, Start Your Checkbooks!
I read this week that a Sunset Hill, Missouri children’s dentist office paid its young patients for their Halloween candy. Starting November 1, Pediatric Dentistry of Sunset Hills has been giving kids a dollar for every pound of candy they turn in. As of November 4th they had collected 13-hundred pounds of sweets. Their plan is to send the candy to troops overseas. Sounds like a way of shifting dental insurance costs from Aetna and Blue Cross to Tricare!
Anyway, this got me thinking; maybe we should try this strategy with other scourges of the healthcare world, for instance:
- Pulmonologists could pay patients to bring in their cigarettes and we could turn around and send those cigarettes to the troops who are fighting against us in Afghanistan. Might not be a quick means to the end of the war, but it will work eventually!
- Endocrinologists could pay patients to turn in donuts and we could turn around and send those donuts to the deserving police officers that really need them.
- Hepatologists could reimburse patients who bring in bottles of Jack Daniels and we could turn around and ship those to
Orange is the New Black
It is early November and that means it is time to deal with the fall-out from the pivotal races that took place in the days and weeks leading up to early this week. Of course by this I mean that we should all be celebrating the SF Giants’ devastating annihilation of the Texas Rangers. 1 million people showed up for their victory parade yesterday in SF. Go Orange and Black!
And speaking of pivotal races that end with winners that are primarily orange, John Boehner is our new Speaker-elect of the House of Representatives. One of the first things out of Boehner’s mouth after the election was “The American people are concerned about the government takeover of health care. I think it’s important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity.” He was, of course, referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that became law this year and promised sweeping changes in our country’s approach to providing health insurance.
After a few months where the focus had moved squarely away from health reform and towards the election, jobs and taxes, healthcare … (read the rest)
Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Uncategorized
Tagged ACA, affordable care act, cms, healthcare, healthcare reform, healthcare services, healthcare venture capital, john boehner, psilos
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All Hospitals Need to Know They Learned In Kindergarten
On October 20, 2010 HealthGrades released their Thirteenth Annual Hospital Quality in America study, which analyzed mortality and complication rates at all of the nation’s 5000 non-federal hospitals using 40 million hospitalization records obtained from CMS. The study found that patients treated at hospitals rated as “5-star” by HealthGrades had a 72% lower risk of dying than if they had gone to a “1-star” rated hospital. A key finding: If all hospitals performed at the level of a five-star rated hospital, 232,442 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved from 2007 through 2009.
According to Rick May, MD, an author of the study and a vice president with HealthGrades, “We are encouraged by the steady improvement in mortality rates among America’s hospitals, but there’s an unacceptably wide gap that has persisted between the top-performing hospitals and all others in terms of patient outcomes.” Bottom line: mortality rates overall have improved at our nation’s hospitals, but they are still unnecessarily killing people (or injuring them) at alarmingly high rates. Note to self: stay out of the hospital.
HealthGrades’ approach is interesting because similar star ratings are ubiquitously used by … (read the rest)
Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Patient Safety, Uncategorized, Venture Capital
Tagged ACA, affordable care act, healthcare, healthcare IT, healthcare reform, healthcare services, healthcare venture capital, healthgrades, hospital, medical errors, medical technology, patient safety, psilos, robert fulghum, sorry works
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CMS & CMMI: Taking A Flying Leap
Let me start with what’s important: The Giants are up 2 games to 1 over the Phillies in the NLCS. I am looking forward to collecting on my bet with my partner, Joe Riley, who is a seriously misguided Phillies fan. What the hell is that mascot anyway? Looks like a mutant bigfoot that ran into a brick wall face first.
But back to the subject at hand.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak as an invited guest at a public meeting hosted by the Brookings Institution and CMS. The focus of the meeting was “Accelerating Health Care Innovation to Improve Quality and Lower Costs: The Role of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.” This meeting was the sequel to a private meeting that occurred several months ago in which many people from all facets of the healthcare industry provided input and suggestions to the joint Brookings-CMS team that is defining how the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) will set its goals, operating plans and procedures. As you may recall from an earlier post, CMMI was established as a result of the Affordable Care Act … (read the rest)
Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Information Technology, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Patient Safety, Uncategorized
Tagged ACA, affordable care act, brookings, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Center for Medicare Innovation, cmi, cmmi, cms, don berwick, healthcare, healthcare IT, healthcare reform, healthcare services, healthcare venture capital, innovation, Office of the National Coordinator, ONC, psilos, richard gilfillan, triple aim
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A Person Who Aims At Nothing Is Sure To Hit It
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of those entities you hear about on the news occasionally but also one that few people really know much about. Rarely do we hear about the CDC except when flu season gets going or when some new infectious disease hits our shores. Yet the CDC has a broad federal mandate and a $6.6 Billion/year budget to make a difference in public health and their stated mission is “to collaborate to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health – through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats.” That’s a pretty broad mission, particularly given the broad constituency the CDC serves: Americans of every shape, size, age and ethnicity. The CDC’s original mission when it was founded in 1946 was singularly to eliminate malaria in the U.S. going after the mosquito population (thus paving the way for Obama’s safe passage through Iowa backyard barbecues 64 years later).
Back in June 2009, President Obama appointed Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., as Director of the Centers for Disease … (read the rest)
Posted in Health and Wellness, Healthcare, Healthcare Policy, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Venture Capital, Patient Safety, Uncategorized
Tagged cdc, diabetes, healthcare, healthcare reform, healthcare services, healthcare venture capital, life sciences, obesity, psilos, thomas freiden, winnable battles
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