I’m being a little facetious with this back-of-the-envelope calculation, but not much. In several of the PCMH demonstration projects, other providers of primary care services such as WeCare, the historical record of the Starfield work, and the experience of QuadMed primary care shows that just having a typical American population shift...
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At the TAFP conference I attended last weekend, almost all the clinically oriented speakers showed data from their EMRs they felt proved they were providing high quality care. I’m sure their quality is excellent, but this won’t make healthcare more affordable. The measures most everyone showed included: how many diabetics had...
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I attended a Payment Reform Summit sponsored by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians this past weekend. It was a good conference and provided a snapshot of current views and attempts to grow family medicine and pay for it. There were some emotional ups and downs for me as I listened...
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The Texas retired teacher healthcare fund is nearly out of money. Trustees predicted this summer that reserves will be gone in two years, and its deficit could be $580 million by 2014. This group is in a unique situation, because teachers’ retirement and medical care funds exist as stand-alone entities separate...
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As the August 2nd deadline approaches, many Americans are mad at Congress and/or the President for this game of budget brinksmanship. A few commentators have talked about healthcare costs being an important factor in the debt, but I don’t think they emphasize it enough. Let’s spend a few moments getting our...
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It’s been interesting watching the political maneuvering since Newt Gingrich criticized the plan to reduce the federal budget deficit proposed by the House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. After receiving push back from fellow Republicans, Gingrich spent the week backpedaling from his earlier remarks. Many pundits have recognized Ryan...
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My local newspaper prints the You Docs column 3 days a week and I’ve been reading it for over two years. I can’t say I’ve read every column in that time, but I can say most of them. There is a clear pattern to their writing and thinking. In the column...
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A study in the New England Journal of Medicine several months ago presented findings on a new medicine to prevent a deep vein thrombosis, which is a blood clot in one of the larger veins of the leg. These clots are usually more of an annoyance than dangerous, though the worst...
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I’m going to the interim session of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians this weekend. It’s always renewing for me to talk with my colleagues who are committed to caring for their patients in trying times, who come from big towns and small. I’m sure one of the big topics will...
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In a recent You Docs column in my local newspaper, a woman asked about new ways to detect ovarian cancer. She went on to state, “Each year I ask for an internal pelvic exam and a CA-125 test. My mom died from breast cancer and my sister from ovarian cancer.” The...
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