Have you been watching the news. Healthcare reform is the biggest topic of the airwaves during the past few weeks. Unfortunately, it is much ado about nothing. It is politics and profitability as usual.
I would not expect anything new on the horizon. Congress is on hold until well after the July 4th holiday. Even then, no one will be able to pull it together.
What is it that we really need to fix healthcare in our country.
That is the $64,000.00 question. We first need to agree what is basic to all Americans when it comes to their health and well-being. We must begin to pay for prevention. We must live prevention. We must make prevention a part of all of our lives 24-7. I have blogged about this before.
We must also adopt a catastrophic insurance plan for all.
many can afford the short doctor visits and generics can cost as low as $4.00 per month for many prescriptions. It is the big hit that wipes people out. The hospital stay or major operation is what is so costly. This is really what all Americans need.
Protection when a catastrophe hits us. So prevention, generic medications and catastrophic care. That pretty much sums it up.
For all of you politicians, take it from me. Check your egos and special interests agendas at the door and solve this crisis before its too late. Or is it already too late?
Dr. Dale
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Safety in the Home.
Why is it that no one really understands the importance of safety and injury prevention? Our emergency rooms are filled to capacity with patients requiring medical care because of an accident at home. I really enjoy listening to the patients tell me how stupid they were and if they had only done this or that it wouldn't have happened.
Another favorite of mine is when patients will tell me they have been doing something the same way, but the wrong way for some time and this is the first time they were injured.
As you already know, the cost of healthcare is skyrocketing. If people would just pay a little attention to safety and injury prevention, I believe that we could reduce our healthcare expenditures by millions. The following is a list of the 22 safety items no home should be without published by the National Safety Council on their website authored by Carla Merolla and Laura Coyne.
1. Smoke Detectors
2. Carbon Monoxide Monitor
3. Radon-Detector Kit
4. Night Lights
5. Sensor Lights
6. Sturdy One-Step Stool
7. Rubber Suction Bath Mats and Slip-Resistant Throw Rugs
8. Grab Bars
9. Handrails
10. Deadbolt Locks
11. Ground-Fault Circuit Breakers
12. Fire Extinguishers
13. First-Aid Kit
14. Flashlights
15. Fire-Safety Window Guards and Safety Glazing
16. Written Family Evacuation Plan
17. Family Disaster Kit
18. NOAA All-Hazard Alert Radio
19. Posted Emergency Phone Numbers
20. Test Appliances
21. Personal Protective Equipment
22. Tagged Shutoffs
This list is not comprehensive and the details of each item can be found at the NSC website. According to the National Safety Council, there were 29,500 deaths associated with the home in the year 2000. Many of these deaths were probably not instantaneous. I am sure several came after emergency medical care, trauma services and a whole host of medical services were provided in order to save the life of the patient. Think just a second about the cost of all of this. Prevention, prevention and prevention is becoming my daily mantra to patients. The cost savings to our healthcare delivery system would be astounding with just a little common sense.
Dr. Dale
Another favorite of mine is when patients will tell me they have been doing something the same way, but the wrong way for some time and this is the first time they were injured.
As you already know, the cost of healthcare is skyrocketing. If people would just pay a little attention to safety and injury prevention, I believe that we could reduce our healthcare expenditures by millions. The following is a list of the 22 safety items no home should be without published by the National Safety Council on their website authored by Carla Merolla and Laura Coyne.
1. Smoke Detectors
2. Carbon Monoxide Monitor
3. Radon-Detector Kit
4. Night Lights
5. Sensor Lights
6. Sturdy One-Step Stool
7. Rubber Suction Bath Mats and Slip-Resistant Throw Rugs
8. Grab Bars
9. Handrails
10. Deadbolt Locks
11. Ground-Fault Circuit Breakers
12. Fire Extinguishers
13. First-Aid Kit
14. Flashlights
15. Fire-Safety Window Guards and Safety Glazing
16. Written Family Evacuation Plan
17. Family Disaster Kit
18. NOAA All-Hazard Alert Radio
19. Posted Emergency Phone Numbers
20. Test Appliances
21. Personal Protective Equipment
22. Tagged Shutoffs
This list is not comprehensive and the details of each item can be found at the NSC website. According to the National Safety Council, there were 29,500 deaths associated with the home in the year 2000. Many of these deaths were probably not instantaneous. I am sure several came after emergency medical care, trauma services and a whole host of medical services were provided in order to save the life of the patient. Think just a second about the cost of all of this. Prevention, prevention and prevention is becoming my daily mantra to patients. The cost savings to our healthcare delivery system would be astounding with just a little common sense.
Dr. Dale
Monday, June 8, 2009
Health Reform is Coming!
Hold on to your hats. Health reform is right around the corner. Or is it?
President Obama is going to push very hard this week to keep health reform on track before Congress goes on break this August. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of U.S. Department Health and Human Services, was quoted late last week, " This budget (I.e., Fiscal budget proposal for 2010) sends a clear message that we can't wait any longer if we want to get healthcare costs under control and improve our fiscal outlook."
The issue for all Americans' health and well-being remains access, cost and quality.
There remains little detail on the Administration's legislative and regulatory proposals for health care reform. There continues to be this cloud of secrecy over what appears to be future significant change. Whatever happened to transparency and accountability? Much of what is talked about has to do with Medicare cuts to providers and healthcare systems. A push for "pay-for-performance" or quality-based care is a high priority item.We may even have a public health insurance program available for all Americans as an alternative to the private programs available now either individually or via group coverage. Again, this begs the question, how are we as taxpayers, going to pay for it? This is all becoming more Darwinian as time goes on,the strong will survive and the weak will perish.
How will this effect the people in smaller communities like Williston, Florida? I suspect that Nature Coast Regional Hospital will have to close its doors on the community. Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals will begin to be cut by 2011. Our little hospital already provides around 60% "free care" to the county residents. There is very little margin for operations error in hospitals that only provide primary hospital services. Nature Coast Regional Hospital saves lives. Our Emergency Room is open 24-7 to provide immediate and life-saving care. Without our ED being open, people will have to travel an additional 25-30 minutes, which is certainly the difference between stabilizing care and death.
For everyone reading my blogs, write your Congressmen and Senators now and tell them how much our current health care delivery system means to you as patients. Let them know how much we need to remember the patients in all of this.
I continue to say that when we eliminate politics and profitability from health care delivery in this country, we will solve the healthcare crisis. More to follow.
Dr. Dale
President Obama is going to push very hard this week to keep health reform on track before Congress goes on break this August. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of U.S. Department Health and Human Services, was quoted late last week, " This budget (I.e., Fiscal budget proposal for 2010) sends a clear message that we can't wait any longer if we want to get healthcare costs under control and improve our fiscal outlook."
The issue for all Americans' health and well-being remains access, cost and quality.
There remains little detail on the Administration's legislative and regulatory proposals for health care reform. There continues to be this cloud of secrecy over what appears to be future significant change. Whatever happened to transparency and accountability? Much of what is talked about has to do with Medicare cuts to providers and healthcare systems. A push for "pay-for-performance" or quality-based care is a high priority item.We may even have a public health insurance program available for all Americans as an alternative to the private programs available now either individually or via group coverage. Again, this begs the question, how are we as taxpayers, going to pay for it? This is all becoming more Darwinian as time goes on,the strong will survive and the weak will perish.
How will this effect the people in smaller communities like Williston, Florida? I suspect that Nature Coast Regional Hospital will have to close its doors on the community. Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals will begin to be cut by 2011. Our little hospital already provides around 60% "free care" to the county residents. There is very little margin for operations error in hospitals that only provide primary hospital services. Nature Coast Regional Hospital saves lives. Our Emergency Room is open 24-7 to provide immediate and life-saving care. Without our ED being open, people will have to travel an additional 25-30 minutes, which is certainly the difference between stabilizing care and death.
For everyone reading my blogs, write your Congressmen and Senators now and tell them how much our current health care delivery system means to you as patients. Let them know how much we need to remember the patients in all of this.
I continue to say that when we eliminate politics and profitability from health care delivery in this country, we will solve the healthcare crisis. More to follow.
Dr. Dale
Friday, June 5, 2009
A Healer and a Physician
Dr. Derrick DeSilva interviewed me yesterday on his radio show, “Ask Dr. DeSilva”. The radio show is on the Internet and reaches several thousands of listeners. We talked about the state of health care delivery in our nation today and my 8-point plan for change. The more we talked the more I realized how much Dr. DeSilva and I have in common. We are both clinicians in the trenches slugging it out day after day to provide good care to our patients. We both agree that no one in Washington is listening to us about what it takes to practice medicine today. We are both fed up with the politics and profitability of health care.
On a more positive note, we are both healers as well as physicians. We try to get in to the souls of our patients and help them to heal and be well, not just healthy. Wellness is the ultimate goal for all of us. It requires an active participation by patients to get their mind, body and spirit to connect creating something greater than the individual parts.
Dr. DeSilva has a wonderful Chinese proverb on his website:
The inferior physician treats the disease once it occurs.
The mediocre physician prevents the disease from coming back.
The superior physician prevents the disease from ever occurring.
Success in healthcare should be measured on the state of wellness for the patient, not on whether the illness is cured or the injury is healed. We have become a sick care society. Enough! We all need to become our own healers of the mind, body and spirit. That is the cornerstone of being a good healthcare steward.
Dr. Dale
On a more positive note, we are both healers as well as physicians. We try to get in to the souls of our patients and help them to heal and be well, not just healthy. Wellness is the ultimate goal for all of us. It requires an active participation by patients to get their mind, body and spirit to connect creating something greater than the individual parts.
Dr. DeSilva has a wonderful Chinese proverb on his website:
The inferior physician treats the disease once it occurs.
The mediocre physician prevents the disease from coming back.
The superior physician prevents the disease from ever occurring.
Success in healthcare should be measured on the state of wellness for the patient, not on whether the illness is cured or the injury is healed. We have become a sick care society. Enough! We all need to become our own healers of the mind, body and spirit. That is the cornerstone of being a good healthcare steward.
Dr. Dale
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
