Monday, January 11, 2010
QD: News Every Day--math geeks project on health spending, H1N1's spread
ACP Internist's wrap-up of current events looks at how the mathematicians and engineers are changing health care. Actuaries project health spending, an equation projects how the flu would spread throughout an airplane, and the industrial engineers apply tricks from car making to the hospital.
Health care reform
The Senate's health care legislation would raise spending by about 1%, yet extend coverage to currently uninsured people and possibly save money long-term, according to a report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the weekend. Proponents saw it as good news; opponents, as bad. But, CMS actuarial simulations indicated that as much as 20% of Part A providers who rely on Medicare could become unprofitable in the next decade. (Politico, AP/Washington Post, The Hill, Modern Healthcare)
H1N1 influenza
The waning H1N1 pandemic may let loose a wave of new but as-yet-unknown inter-pandemic or seasonal flus. Val Jones, MD, interviews ACP President Joseph Stubbs, FACP, about the need to continue vaccination efforts, citing 80% of the population as a desirable goal. (MSNBC, ACP Internist blog)
A mathematical model predicts how one plane passenger carrying H1N1 would infect others. The Wells-Riley equation considers among other areas the number of people exposed and the length of exposure. One sick person in economy class could spread H1N1 to two to five others on a five-hour flight, five to 10 on an 11-hour flight and seven to 17 during a 17-hour flight. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles pointed out that someone in first class wouldn't have such an impact because of the less-crowded seating.
Primary care shortage
Advanced practice nurses are pushing to run patient-centered medical homes in Ohio. As a bill to create a PCMH pilot project moves through Ohio's state legislature, a nursing association wants to get in on the ground floor to prove they can add value to the concept. Ohio's physician association says the move could threaten to bog down the pilot project. (Youngstown Vindicator)
In case you missed it
Automobile makers have a lesson to teach health care. In Detroit, engineers from General Motor helped University of Michigan Health System implement Lean, a series of exercises that pare away wasted steps, preach cleanliness and try to reduce errors. The automaker's own Lean efforts reduced auto recalls by 85%. Jack Billi, FACP, explains how it worked in his facility. (Crain's Detroit Business)
Labels: H1N1, health care delivery, health care reform, patient-centered medical home, primary care shortage, QD
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
12:28 PM
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Blog log
Members of the American College of Physicians contribute posts from their own sites to ACP Internist and ACP Hospitalist. Contributors include:
Albert Fuchs, MD
Albert Fuchs, MD, FACP,
graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of
Medicine, where he also did his internal medicine training.
Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Fuchs
spent three years as a full-time faculty member at UCLA School of
Medicine before opening his private practice in Beverly Hills in
2000.
David Katz, MD
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACP, is an internationally renowned
authority on nutrition, weight management, and the prevention of
chronic disease, and an internationally recognized leader in
integrative medicine and patient-centered care.
DrDialogue
Juliet K. Mavromatis, MD, FACP, provides a conversation about
health topics for patients and health professionals.
Dr. Mintz' Blog
Matthew Mintz, MD, FACP, has practiced internal medicine for more
than a decade and is an Associate Professor of Medicine at an
academic medical center on the East Coast. His time is split
between teaching medical students and residents, and caring for
patients.
Everything Health
Toni Brayer, MD, FACP, blogs about the rapid changes in science,
medicine, health and healing in the 21st century.
FutureDocs
Vineet Arora, MD, FACP, is Associate Program Director for the
Internal Medicine Residency and Assistant Dean of Scholarship &
Discovery at the Pritzker School of Medicine for the University of
Chicago. Her education and research focus is on resident duty
hours, patient handoffs, medical professionalism, and quality of
hospital care. She is also an academic hospitalist.
Glass
Hospital
John H. Schumann, MD, FACP, provides transparency on the workings
of medical practice and the complexities of hospital care,
illuminates the emotional and cognitive aspects of caregiving and
decision-making from the perspective of an active primary care
physician, and offers behind-the-scenes portraits of hospital
sanctums and the people who inhabit them.
Gut Check
Ryan Madanick, MD, ACP Member, is a gastroenterologist at the
University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and the Program
Director for the GI & Hepatology Fellowship Program. He
specializes in diseases of the esophagus, with a strong interest in
the diagnosis and treatment of patients who have
difficult-to-manage esophageal problems such as refractory GERD,
heartburn, and chest pain.
I'm dok
ACP Member Mike Aref, MD, PhD, ACP Member, is an academic
hospitalist with an interest in basic and clinical science and
education, with interests in noninvasive monitoring and diagnostic
testing using novel bedside imaging modalities, diagnostic
reasoning, medical informatics, new medical education modalities,
pre-code/code management, palliative care, patient-physician
communication, quality improvement, and quantitative biomedical
imaging.
Just Oncology
Richard Just, MD, ACP Member, has 36 years in clinical practice of hematology and medical oncology. His blog is a joint publication with Gregg Masters, MPH.
KevinMD
Kevin Pho, MD, ACP Member, offers one of the Web's definitive sites
for influential health commentary.
MD
Whistleblower
Michael Kirsch, MD, FACP, addresses the joys and challenges of
medical practice, including controversies in the doctor-patient
relationship, medical ethics and measuring medical quality. When
he's not writing, he's performing colonoscopies.
Medical
Lessons
Elaine Schattner, MD, ACP Member, shares her ideas on education,
ethics in medicine, health care news and culture. Her views on
medicine are informed by her past experiences in caring for
patients, as a researcher in cancer immunology, and as a patient
who's had breast cancer.
Prescriptions
David M. Sack, MD, FACP, practices general gastroenterology at a
small community hospital in Connecticut. His blog is a series of
musings on medicine, medical care, the health care system and
medical ethics, in no particular order.
Reflections
of a Grady Doctor
Kimberly Manning, MD, FACP, reflects on the personal side of being
a doctor in a community hospital in Atlanta.
Technology in (Medical) Education
Neil Mehta, MBBS, MS, FACP, is interested in use of technology in
education, social media and networking, practice management and
evidence-based medicine tools, personal information and knowledge
management.
White Coat Underground
Peter A. Lipson, MD, ACP Member, is a practicing internist and
teaching physician in Southeast Michigan. The blog, which has been
around in various forms since 2007, offers musings on the
intersection of science, medicine, and culture.
ACP Internist and ACP Hospitalist also contribute to and draw upon content from Get Better Health, a network created by Val Jones, MD, to support and promote health care professional bloggers, provide insightful and trustworthy health commentary, and help to inform health policy makers about the clinician's point of view on health care reform, science, research and patient care.
Other blogs of note:
American
Journal of Medicine
Also known as the Green Journal, the American Journal of Medicine
publishes original clinical articles of interest to physicians in
internal medicine and its subspecialities, both in academia and
community-based practice.
Clinical Correlations
A collaborative medical blog started by Neil Shapiro, MD, ACP
Member, associate program director at New York University Medical
Center's internal medicine residency program. Faculty, residents
and students contribute case studies, mystery quizzes, news,
commentary and more.
db's Medical
Rants
Robert M. Centor, MD, FACP, contributes short essays contemplating
medicine and the health care system.
Interact
MD
Michael Benjamin, MD, ACP member, doesn't accept industry money so
he can create an independent, clinician-reviewed space on the
Internet for physicians to report and comment on the medical news
of the day.
PLoS
Blog
The Public Library of Science's open access materials include a
blog.
White Coat Rants
One of the most popular anonymous blogs written by an emergency
room physician.
1 Comments:
It is getting tougher for physicians to make a living on medicare reimbursement. This is why the Mayo Clinic's Arizona satellite just announced that they will no longer accept Medicare. This was a dramatic development from an institution that the president has publicly lauded as a model for health care. I don't expect we will see smooth sailing. There's a lot of rough water ahead. www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com
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