The red and blue of healthcare
March 24, 2008
Excerpts from the Globe's blog on the Boston-area medical community.
more stories like thisMost Republicans think the US healthcare system is the best in the world. But Democrats? Not so much.
Americans are sharply divided along party lines when it comes to their views of the US healthcare system versus other countries' programs, according to the poll conducted two weeks ago by the Harvard School of Public Health and Harris Interactive.
One in five Republicans said they favor a presidential candidate who believes US healthcare should be made more like the universal healthcare systems in Canada, France, and Great Britain. But more than half of Democrats and more than a third of independents said they would likely back such a candidate.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
ACRONYMS IN HEALTH CARE......FYI
ACRONYMS in HEALTH CARE
HIPAA……………………………………….Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (provide privacy of your information)
PHI…………………………………………..Protected Health Information (pronounced P, H. I……not ‘fee’)
Fee for Service…………………………….Amount allowed for service
Capitation…………………………………..A fixed prepayment
HMO…………………………………………Health Maintenance Organization
PPO…………………………………………Physician Provider Organization
ASO…………………………………………Administrative Service Only
COB…………………………………………Coordination of Benefits
CPT………………………………………….Current Procedural Terminology (billing codes)
ICD9…………………………………………International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition
Modifiers……………………………………adjustment for unusual service
DRG…………………………………………Diagnostic Related Group
HCPCS……………………………………..Health Care Procedure Coding System
AMA…………………………………………American Medical Association
CMS…………………………………………Center for Medicaid Medicare Service
Champus……………………………………Civilian Health and Medical Program of Uniformed Service (military related)
NCQA………………………………………..National Committee for Quality Assurance
ERISA……………………………………….Employee retirement Income Security ACT
COBRA………………………………………Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (if person loses job, may be covered by insurance, but pays for it)
CQI…………………………………………...Continuous Quality Improvement
HIPAA……………………………………….Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (provide privacy of your information)
PHI…………………………………………..Protected Health Information (pronounced P, H. I……not ‘fee’)
Fee for Service…………………………….Amount allowed for service
Capitation…………………………………..A fixed prepayment
HMO…………………………………………Health Maintenance Organization
PPO…………………………………………Physician Provider Organization
ASO…………………………………………Administrative Service Only
COB…………………………………………Coordination of Benefits
CPT………………………………………….Current Procedural Terminology (billing codes)
ICD9…………………………………………International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition
Modifiers……………………………………adjustment for unusual service
DRG…………………………………………Diagnostic Related Group
HCPCS……………………………………..Health Care Procedure Coding System
AMA…………………………………………American Medical Association
CMS…………………………………………Center for Medicaid Medicare Service
Champus……………………………………Civilian Health and Medical Program of Uniformed Service (military related)
NCQA………………………………………..National Committee for Quality Assurance
ERISA……………………………………….Employee retirement Income Security ACT
COBRA………………………………………Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (if person loses job, may be covered by insurance, but pays for it)
CQI…………………………………………...Continuous Quality Improvement
Thursday, March 13, 2008
"FUTURE THINKING" student submits interesting article on "digital" human beings...BY 2020!!!
The article I have chosen is The Future of Medicine and Health Care in the Third Millennium & People with digital bodies by 2020. Advancements in all aspects of health care is taking place here and now, and at a very fast pace. Doctors are having a difficult time keeping up with such rapid advancements. New drugs, new treatments, new technologies, new diseases means new medicine and genetic revolution is at the heart of this new medicine. The tools are readily available and already widely used in animals, giving today's scientists the power to alter every aspect of life on earth. This power has the potential of redesigning the human race. Computers and genetics are going the two greatest technologies for the future of health care, at least for the first decades of the next century. "Computers change how we live, but genes can change what we are." By the year 2020, combining these two technologies, it has been predicted that digitally enhanced human being will be created. By 2030 we will have the ability to create bionic people. We already have the ability to link computer chips to human cells to help those who are paralysed. The next step will be to implant biochips which control blood sugar levels, helping diabetics. Beyond that, biochips will be implanted directly onto the surface of the brain, to restore sight, hearing, movement or enhance memory and intelligence. This article goes into depth with extraordinary possibilities of gene technology, things I can't even imagine happening. It's disturbing but fascinating the things they can do with genetics, such as using animals to produce human organs. These technologies do need to be regulated, otherwise they could go completely beyond our control.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Public Health Worker Shortage
FROM THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AT THE U OF MINNESOTA
From the Dean
It's federal budget "mark-up" time, and that means that just about everyone in the country is in Washington DC to speak with their Congressional delegation about important issues on the national agenda. Many of the deans of the 40 accredited schools of public health were there including yours truly. There were several major issues on our collective agenda, but chief among them is public health workforce development. A study by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) released last week shows that the nation faces a shortfall of public health workers that will worsen by 2020 unless the nation takes action to close the gap.
In Minnesota, this means a shortfall of some 7,000 workers. Thus public health joins all the other health professions in projected workforce shortages in the coming decade. What's are the causes and what's to be done? The causes are many, but I believe chief factors include an aging public health workforce (23 percent will be eligible to retire by 2012); the continued lack of US investment in public health (about 1 percent nationally of what we invest in health care overall); and the rising cost of health professional training.
On the cost factor, the ASPH supports the approach of a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Hagel (R-Nebraska) and Durbin (D-Illinois). It would establish scholarship and loan payback programs worth more than $200 million per year to help students defray the cost of public health training if they agree to serve for a certain period of time in the field. Special bonuses would be available for those who agree to work in under-served areas like Greater Minnesota and 80 percent of the funds would go toward state and local public health workforce needs. Many that I spoke to in the Minnesota delegation are supporters of the approach. Now is the time to let your Congresspersons know what you think.
By the way, I'll be joining local public health representatives on Minnesota Public Radio (91.1 FM) this morning from 9-10 a.m. to discuss the issues of public health and other health professional work force shortages. For more information about the public health agenda, go to the ASPH Web site at: www.asph.org/
--John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D
From the Dean
It's federal budget "mark-up" time, and that means that just about everyone in the country is in Washington DC to speak with their Congressional delegation about important issues on the national agenda. Many of the deans of the 40 accredited schools of public health were there including yours truly. There were several major issues on our collective agenda, but chief among them is public health workforce development. A study by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) released last week shows that the nation faces a shortfall of public health workers that will worsen by 2020 unless the nation takes action to close the gap.
In Minnesota, this means a shortfall of some 7,000 workers. Thus public health joins all the other health professions in projected workforce shortages in the coming decade. What's are the causes and what's to be done? The causes are many, but I believe chief factors include an aging public health workforce (23 percent will be eligible to retire by 2012); the continued lack of US investment in public health (about 1 percent nationally of what we invest in health care overall); and the rising cost of health professional training.
On the cost factor, the ASPH supports the approach of a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Hagel (R-Nebraska) and Durbin (D-Illinois). It would establish scholarship and loan payback programs worth more than $200 million per year to help students defray the cost of public health training if they agree to serve for a certain period of time in the field. Special bonuses would be available for those who agree to work in under-served areas like Greater Minnesota and 80 percent of the funds would go toward state and local public health workforce needs. Many that I spoke to in the Minnesota delegation are supporters of the approach. Now is the time to let your Congresspersons know what you think.
By the way, I'll be joining local public health representatives on Minnesota Public Radio (91.1 FM) this morning from 9-10 a.m. to discuss the issues of public health and other health professional work force shortages. For more information about the public health agenda, go to the ASPH Web site at: www.asph.org/
--John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D
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