Archive for December, 2008
Friday, December 19th, 2008
There is a big push to improve healthcare quality and cost-effectiveness through the use of electronic medical records, computerized physician order entry and personal health records. As one speaker I heard say, “Healthcare IT is like mom and apple pie. Everybody loves it.” The problem is that every electronic medical ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Monday, December 15th, 2008
Yes, patients need to take responsibility for their health. Yes, they need to be active participants in their care. But, the reason they go to see the doctor is because they don’t know what’s wrong with them or they don’t know what to do about it. And here is the ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Monday, December 8th, 2008
You must support patients with Organized Systems.
Let me start by painting a picture of low-value systems (or lack there of). The patient has no primary care provider. No one to call with questions. No one to see on short notice. The patient goes to the ER or an urgent care ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Monday, December 1st, 2008
Assume something will go wrong with every transfer-of-care.
When a person visits the ER, assume the lab and x-ray results never make it back to the primary care physician. When a person is discharged from the hospital, assume that they do not fill half the prescriptions that are written. When a person is referred ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »
Monday, December 1st, 2008
The Washington Post wrote an article on Sunday (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112902182.html) that summarized a group of healthcare CEOs on the appropriate fix for healthcare costs: "A high-performance 21st-century health system, they say, must revolve around the central goal of paying for results. That will entail managing chronic illnesses better, adopting electronic medical ...
Posted in Costs of Care | No Comments »