Coastal ENT Medical Group

Value in Healthcare

What is value? In the eye of each and every one of us, we know value when we see it.

Cost is part of the equation as denominator and what we receive in service is the numerator.

Service/Cost+VALUE

Here is a good article in WSJ  Download Value-72809

CHF and Re-admission

At small hospital has an outreach program tries to prevent re-admissions to the hospital for chronic conditions such as heat failure, diabetes and pulmonary disease.
This article is showing forward thinking.

Download CHF and Readmission-72809

Get What You Pay For

MI death rate has diminshed markedly but at a cost. This will continue but who will pay for it? Is this quality at work?

See the article: Download What you pay for-72609

State Health Plan Attempts

The current healthcare debate is not new.

Historically, we have Mass Care, Hawaii, Tenn Care and before them Minnesota in 2003 and Oregon in 1989.

Most are well intended but have not dealt with all the elements. Tenn Care was pulled before it bankrupted the state.

Se this article for update.
Download Mass health mess-71109

Health Care Reform-Lack of Bipartisan Input

 

Here is article on ObamaCare. Please review and call your representative about input form BOTH parties.

AMA, American College of Surgeons (AMCoS) and other organized medical groups As well as the the national Pharma group and American Hospital Association (AHA)are supporting this plan. Perhaps with a lot of self interest.

It is not well known, but the AMA doe NOT represent more than 16-17%  of the US practicing doctors. Many of the members are medical students and doctors in training.

Many more physicians belong to local and state medical societies, but here it may represent perhapss 30%.

Download Make Health-Care Reform Bipartisan-72209
Download Stake in Health Overhaul-72209

 

ObamaCare II

It is said we currently have a costly inefficient health care system. Our health care cost is 16% of GDP, higher than most other countries. What are the reason(s)?

Mobility within the system, allows the provider and insurance company to NOT focus on long-term preventative care such as immunizations.

Access to care is fractionated between clinics, individual providers and ER's. EMTALA, a federal law that was enacted in another era to prevent dumping, makes it certain that care is given to all. Yet these emergency costs are the most expensive in medicine.

Quality exists but is tough to measure. Now there are several federal PQRI projects that attempt to have doctors fill in check boxes along with our billing. One of the biggest observations is that most specialists care is based on their training, not always evidence-based.

Chronic care of diseases such as obesity often with chronic heart failure, chronic bronchitis, hypertension, hyper-cholesterolemia,  and diabetes at all ages and in many children, is costly in the hospital but can be moderated and many admissions prevented. Many devices exist to help with this monitoring, but until there is some incentive to try to do this as an outpatient, admissions will still occur. Qualcomm and others are working on this.

Wireless Health

Qualcomm and Don Jones are busy uniting the folks around wireless devices to improve data and information flow. From entrepreneurial ventures to clinical trials, QCOM is active. See below:

West Wireless Health Institute

Wireless Life Sciences

Corventis

Hellohealth

Myca