In yesterday’s WSJ article about billing and admin systems Christopher Parks’ MedBillingManager, RevolutionHealth’s Expense Manager and Intuit’s new Quicken Health got some publicity. As did a service I’d never heard of called Smart Medical Consumer which seems to help you beat up providers and insurers who aren’t playing fair. (If you can’t get into that WSJ site, and it should be free, there’s a summary here)
Of course (plug plug) two weeks from tomorrow Revolution & Quicken are on the "Consumer Tools" panel at Health2.0: User-Generated Healthcare, and Christopher from MedBillingManager will be in the crowd and we’ll try to remember to give him a shout-out!
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A single-payer health care system in America? Think of all the other joys in our life that are exclusively (or almost exclusively) run by the government. Images of good customer service, timely resolution of complaints, efficiency … these don’t immediately come to mind when I think of almost every experience I’ve ever had with a government-run program or system.
Maybe I’m being too cynical? For the record, it would be awesome to simplify our health care system, but I’m not sure our government is up to the task … yet.
It seems like these systems work best in smaller countries, and even then, they don’t always work well. Maybe we need to split our country into regional health care areas, whereby a separate organization is responsible for running the system (under a federally guided structure) … sort of like a Freddie Mac meets Medicare hybrid … What do others think?
EMR Software Guy,
http://www.electronic-medical-record.blogspot.com
Here’s what single-payer gets you in Cuba —
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070905/wl_nm/cuba_russia_women_dc
Someone wants sub-standard health care — fine. (Will John Edwards, with whom I share acquaintances, NOT use his millions for health care? Sure — with Alice and Mad Hatter.)
Lots of us won’t play that jejune ploy. But good luck to you — you will need it.
” .. being done right now in single pay countries.”
Gee .. do the MDs in those countries, ever go on strike?
Oh — Fidel won’t allow that? Darn .. well, there’s always Canada and England.
Excellent, accomplished thinking.
Peter…Im with you…Lets start the revolution!
I have a better idea. No bills or paperwork for the patient. No trying to figure out who’s screwing you. No fighting with insurance coverage or claim denials. No worry about whether it’s the car payment, rent or medical bill you’ll pay this month. All bills and LESS paperwork go from the health provider (not insurance company) to the single payer who pays promptly with a known negotiated amount. All this for about 1/2 of the present system costs. Fantasy? No, being done right now in single pay countries.