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Stephen C Schimpff's Blog Posts Tagged 'high' (10)

Have You Had Your Colonoscopy Yet? –A Ludicrous Colonoscopy Rule and the ACA

“An ounce of prevention” we all know is good medicine. An example is colonoscopy. It was time for mine so after some lengthy procrastination I called and set up an appointment which I soon found a perfectly good reason to postpone for a few weeks. A common occurrence. The government wants me (and you) to not procrastinate, at least not because of the cost. The Affordable Care…

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Added by Stephen C Schimpff on October 14, 2013 at 9:21am — No Comments

A “Grand Bargain” To Improve Quality and Decrease Medicare Costs

There are just a few key reasons why Medicare has become inordinately expensive. There is no end in sight for cost escalation. But there are some obvious solutions and they all begin with chronic illnesses. 

Chronic illness – diabetes, heart failure, cancer, chronic lung disease, etc. – are increasing at exponential rates; are caused largely by lifestyle behaviors; and…

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Added by Stephen C Schimpff on October 9, 2013 at 4:04pm — No Comments

Transformational and Disruptive Changes Are Coming to the Delivery System

More chronic illnesses, more diseases of old age, consumers demanding more quality and safety, physicians no longer in typical private practice, and high deductible health care polices are each about to cause major changes in the practice of medicine and how it is delivered to patients. Will this come about smoothly or, more likely, with some serious hand wringing? 

Health care delivery will change substantially in the coming years. This is not because of reform but rather due to a…

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Added by Stephen C Schimpff on October 10, 2012 at 3:15pm — No Comments

Four Drugs – Each Creating A Tough Dilemma

For a parent of a child with cystic fibrosis, a new drug that could eradicate symptoms could be a God send. The same could be said of a parent of child with Angelman’s syndrome. For a patient with lung cancer, a drug that is more than marginally effective would be wonderful. And for a person with early Alzheimer’s or their loved ones, a drug that might actually reverse the disease would be incredible.

 

New drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regularly.…

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Added by Stephen C Schimpff on March 18, 2012 at 5:22pm — No Comments

Time to Rethink How We Pay for Medical Care and Healthcare

Today we mostly have prepaid medical care insurance with some co-pays and deductibles – both with commercial insurance and with Medicare. In other words, our insurance covers essentially everything from basic and routine care to the catastrophic. And the insurance pays out based on units of care – a visit, a test, a procedure, a hospitalization, a prescription. This creates a system in which providers (physicians, hospitals, drug and device companies, others) get paid for a unit of activity –… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on July 10, 2010 at 5:22pm — 3 Comments

Today’s Health Insurance Has Perverse Incentives

Whether we have commercial insurance through our employer or Medicare, the incentives are poorly aligned to lower costs and improve quality. In fact, they actually encourage greater and greater expenditures. In most instances, our insurance covers everything from prevention to basic routine care to complex care of serious illness. Coverage may not be all that good for some things like preventive care and our primary care physician feels underpaid for routine visits but nevertheless we basically… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on July 1, 2010 at 8:47am — No Comments

Healthcare Reform Misconception - Giving patients more control of their healthcare expenditures will lead to lower costs

It makes good sense to have all of us more involved in our healthcare decision-making and with that its payments. But individuals purchase healthcare in a manner unlike any other purchase. Patients or their loved ones do not “shop” for the best price the way they shop for a new washing machine. They shop for the best [as they understand it] physician, hospital, etc. Mostly they accept the advice of their personal physician as to drugs, surgery or rehab. That said it makes sense to have high… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on January 4, 2010 at 10:24am — No Comments

Misconception – Healthcare reform will fundamentally improve how we receive care going forward.

This is also not at all likely except for those who do not now have medical care insurance. For the rest of us, medical care delivery will change but it will change not because of reform but because of some fundamental societal and demographic reasons along with a marked change in the types, severity and chronicity of illnesses that is occurring right now. The combination of an aging population and our non-healthy lifestyles (obesity, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, stress and smoking) are… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on December 21, 2009 at 2:12pm — No Comments

Lack of Care Coordination Hinders Care Quality and Escalates costs

The switch from acute to complex chronic diseases and the wide variation in care patterns are closely related. It is the complex chronic diseases that need the most attention and hence are most expensive to treat. But as a country we have long had the tradition of the independent, autonomous practioneer in the community taking care of us. This was fine for acute illnesses. The physician could either treat you him or herself or else would refer you to a particular specialist for needed care.… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on July 20, 2009 at 10:00am — 1 Comment

Complex, Chronic Illnesses That Last a Lifetime and Are Expensive to Treat

I appreciate the comments to my earlier post on the state of America's health care delivery system. We have incredible medical advances, of the type often referred to on MedTecIQ, but if they cannot be dellivered to the right people at the right time, then they are not being fully utilized to best advantage. One pressing need is to recognize the marked shift in disease prevalence from acute illness to chronic illnesses that has occured over the years; it is a real… Continue

Added by Stephen C Schimpff on June 29, 2009 at 2:14pm — No Comments

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