Health care in America - Fraud, Waste, Inefficiency and Ignorance - excepts from OBAMA
’s speech to the American Medical Association June 17, 2009
Doctors
… are simply using more treatments – treatments they don't really need; treatments that, in some cases, can actually do people harm by raising the risk of infection or medical error…. a system of incentives where the more tests and services are provided, the more money we pay. And a lot of people in this room know what I'm talking about. It is a model that rewards the quantity of care rather than the quality of care; and gives you every incentive to order that extra MRI or EKG, even if it's not truly necessary.
We need to bundle payments so you aren't paid for every single treatment you offer a patient with a chronic condition … but for how you treat the overall disease. We need to give doctors bonuses for good health outcomes – so that we are not promoting just more treatment, but better care.
We can save about one billion more by rooting out waste, abuse, and fraud throughout our health care system so that no one is charging more for a service than it's worth or charging a dime for a service they did not provide.
Too many doctors and patients are making decisions without the benefit of the latest research. are making decisions without the benefit of the latest research … driving up costs without improving a patient's health. What we need to do is figure out what works, and encourage rapid implementation of what works into your practices … replicating best practices… not about dictating what kind of care should be provided.
While I'm not advocating caps on malpractice awards
… we need to explore a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first…That's how we can scale back the excessive defensive medicine reinforcing our current system of more treatment rather than better care.
You shouldn't have to tell every new doctor you see about your medical history, or what prescriptions you're taking. All of that information should be stored securely in a private medical record … saving taxpayers billions of dollars
Doctors are simply using more treatments – treatments they don't really need; treatments that, in some cases, can actually do people harm by raising the risk of infection or medical error….
You cannot legislate away shotgun medical care. Yes, a doctor will order a broad spectrum abx for a GNR found in a smear before sensitivities come back and a more matching bug/drug treatment is given.
The State of PA enacted legislation (ACT 52) to combat HAI's in Pa hospitals - without the need to spend billions or create cumbersome bureaucracies to do so. It empowered people to do the right thing, unlike the healthcare scheme proposed by Obama which is punitive to QA/QI in healthcare. In every nation that has government run healthcare, there is a cottage industry of physicians taking cases on the side for cash - who is monitoring the quality of care in these cases? This type of back alley medicine is bad for the patient and bad for the profession.
It is a model that rewards the quantity of care rather than the quality of care; and gives you every incentive to order that extra MRI or EKG, even if it's not truly necessary.
Ha! Try billing medicare/medicaid for those 'extra MRI's'. Hospitals are eating those costs, not the patient.
Philadelphia is a highly litigious city, especially for malpractice. Physicians are spending more time ordering tests to protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits than making a buck.
We need to bundle payments so you aren't paid for every single treatment you offer a patient with a chronic condition … but for how you treat the overall disease.
M/M already does this - it is called a DRG.
http://www.hcca-info.org/StaticC...ontent/
ipps.pdf
We can save about one billion more by rooting out waste, abuse, and fraud throughout our health care system so that no one is charging more for a service than it's worth or charging a dime for a service they did not provide.
Why do we have to spend billions in order to save 'about one billion'?
Again, try billing for that extra MRI to M/M.
Too many doctors and patients are making decisions without the benefit of the latest research.
Okay, tell that 80 yo VDRF patient to go do their own research on preventing VAP and sedation vacation protocal.
Every hospital is required to create policies and protocols based on evidence based practice. To say that is not happening is a flatout lie.
Check out Joint Commission report on Improving America's Hospitals:
http://
www.jointcommissionreport...ivesummary.aspx
What we need to do is figure out what works, and encourage rapid implementation of what works into your practices … replicating best practices… not about dictating what kind of care should be provided.
Evidence based practice is already being done in hospitals - and we did NOT have to spend billions to do so.
While I'm not advocating caps on malpractice awards
Must protect the malpractice lawyers! What great idea to drive more physicians out of practice.
You shouldn't have to tell every new doctor you see about your medical history, or what prescriptions you're taking. All of that information should be stored securely in a private medical record … saving taxpayers billions of dollars
The patient should take an active role in their care - that means knowing their health status and medications being taken. Didn't Obie state earlier that patients suffer from a lack of research on their part?
Hello! Your medical information is being stored securely and privately and there is an aggressive law in place called HIPAA
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/...ml/
m2e411a1.htm
Again, billions were not spent to make this happen.
For curiosity - did you realize that you were disputing excerpts from Obama's statements speech to the AMA on June 17?
Neither my words, experiences nor opinions were directly expressed in my posting - meant as rhetorical. And I really do appreciate your taking the time to respond to the speach's discrepancies/misstatements.
As your responses were thorough, concise and clear, would you mind if I were to the sharing the exchange with others (You were the one who did the work – I’d simply cut/pasted.). You never know when facts presented in a palatable way might help to clarify the reality of the health care issues addressed.
PS
It was quite easy to spot the comment as a cut and past job - and to refute the statements made a the AMA conference.
Commenting by HaloScan
