Leading health experts round on the health secretary Andy Burnham today, warning him off reversing a Labour programme of modernisation and competition within the health service. Burnham surprised cabinet ministers and policy officials alike when he announced in September that the NHS would return to the "preferred provider" model of services that existed before the government opened the...
Are Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) finally willing to say no to the Fee for Service Medicare approach that has destroyed their practices and profession? The Mayo Clinic in Arrowhead, Arizona fires a shot across the bow, by informing patients that they will no longer accept Medicare for their primary care doctor visits as of Jan 1 [...]
I read the The Whole Food Guide to Strong Bones by Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D. at an interesting time in my life when it seems that more than ever my doctors want to push pills on me to prevent problems that may never exist anyway. (I received a complimentary copy of the book for review.) The advice given in this book is often quite different from what you’d hear from your specialist or primary care...
Earlier this year the company created a blue tooth chair scale for those who have problems standing on a scale. As mentioned in the article, many insurance companies are not reimbursing for the use of such devices that report data, but there are some, such as CareMore in California who are. With devices that report data, privacy is a big concern as well as knowing who gets to see your data and where...
New to Empire Medical Training and would like to see what other Physicians are saying about Empire's training programs, please watch some of the video testimonials from the latest workshops. These are unscripted personal responses from attendees. FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, November 22, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Empire Medical Training educational classes specializing in Aesthetic Medicine. All training...
Here's how , courtesy of Mayo Clinic Family Medicine - Arrowhead (Arizona): The discrepancy between what Medicare pays and our cost of providing care acutely impacts the sustainability of our primary care practice. Medicare reimbursements do not cover our actual costs of providing care, and therefore we have recently had to make some difficult decisions that will impact the Arrowhead Family Medicine...
One of the great advantages of now having self propelling children is that I can go to conferences that rekindle my interest in more general professional topics. I just attended a meeting sponsored by the Society for Women’s Health Research on the topic of adherence to medication—what in the not so distant past was called compliance. Improving adherence to medical advice offers great promise...
The banner (above) on the home page of the consortium charged with monitoring how local authorities and primary care trusts deliver Aiming High for Disabled Children, a £680million programme charged with transforming services for disabled children and their families, depicts three apparently active children and an adult in a wheelchair. Serco and Contact a Family you have been named and shamed....
First, we'd like any of our patients to honestly inform us if they believe we have been spending less time with them in the recent past. It has not been planned to do so to date, but, it may come to that if some changes are not made. Almost one-third of doctors in an industry-sponsored survey said they didn't spend enough time with their diabetic patients and blamed low reimbursement rates for diabetes...
Reports critical of major British public hospital over child abuse Whistleblower fired rather than heeded. "Rocking the boat" is the one unforgiveable sin in a bureaucracy. Too bad about the patients Great Ormond Street Hospital failed to answer senior doctors’ justified concerns about the clinic which failed Baby P [who died of abuse from his carers], according to two secret reports....
Retail Medical Clinics: Update and Implications – 2009 Report Source: Deloitte Development LLC For satisfied consumers, receiving low-cost, non-urgent health care services at a retail clinic is an attractive alternative to traditional long waits in a physician’s office. As a less costly alternative to primary care physician or emergency room visits, health plans increasingly are covering...
More PTSD - Post-Truth Stupidity Disorder. "Childhood obesity is on the rise, and with it comes an increased risk for developing health problems such as type 2 diabetes. The best way to reduce the risk of serious weight-related health issues such as diabetes is to eat healthy and increase physical activity. Researchers at Geisinger Health System's Henry Hood Center for Health Research and the...
Peter Orszag writes: >**STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY: H.R. 3961 — Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009 (Rep. Dingell, D-Michigan, and 6 cosponsors):** >The Administration strongly supports House passage of H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009, and appreciates congressional efforts to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries and TRICARE patients continue...
Over the past year or so, we began detecting some subtle changes in how Democrats were talking about malpractice. They weren't embracing the Republican tort reform agenda, weren't about to start limiting damages and saying "Sorry Charlie" to people who had suffered heartbreaking harm. But they weren't just changing the subject either. They were recognizing a problem, and considering solutions....
Google Health released a new study yesterday analyzing "how physicians use the Internet in clinical practices" and "evaluate physicians' perceptions of the Internet". The group of physicians surveyed included both primary care and several specialists - 411 doctors in all participated. The results weren't surprising to me, given that I use Google for everything short of eating and...
Wellbeing Newsline: Contributors > World Mental Health Day is celebrated on 10 October each year, or as close to that date as participating organisations can arrange their events. For 2009, the topic selected by the World Federation for Mental Health [WFMH] is ‘Mental Health in Primary Care: Enhancing Treatment and Promoting Mental Health’. The campaign materials have now been posted on the WFMH website,...
Wellbeing Newsline: Contributors > The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [NICE] has published new public health guidance on occupational therapy interventions and physical activity interventions to promote the mental wellbeing of older people in primary care and residential care. There are 9.7 million people aged 65 and older in the UK and by 2020 one–in–five UK citizens will be...
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