The Health Care Blog – Page 840 – Everything you always wanted to know about the Health Care system. But were afraid to ask.

Above the Fold

Thinking the unthinkable–no Health Care bill?

Jan 18, 2010• 76

By Matthew Holt

Matthew Holt

After a resounding Democratic Presidential election win, a terrible recession, and a bruising year of politics, it would be just like America that a crazy election result torpedoes the health care reform bill. It would be the first Republican Senator win in 43 years in Massachusetts, a state that’s bluer than blue, and the actual seat being elected on Tuesday hasn’t been won by a Republican since 1947!

But it’s becoming more and more possible, and the latest polls are all over the map.

Let’s play out what happens if we go back to a 59–41 Senate. The current Senate rules basically allow the minority to shut down proceedings. Harry Reid has in fact performed miracles to keep Lieberman, Nelson and some of the rest on board. Obama, Reid & Pelosi are now working the deal out with the unions and all the rest to make sure that what’s a pretty slim majority in the House will essentially accept the Senate bill—with some sop to the unions on the “Excise tax”. There are some other technicalities about the Exchange et al, but in the end we have a fair idea of what’s going to be the result.

Wanted: Surgeons, nurses, and other medical personnel to help in Haiti

Jan 18, 2010• 23

By Partners in Health

We are deeply grateful for the multitude of people who have contacted us wanting to provide medical assistance. As patients flood to our sites from Port-au-Prince, we’re finding ourselves in need of both medical personnel and supplies. In particular, we need surgeons (especially
trauma/orthopedic surgeons), ER doctors and nurses, and full surgical teams (including anesthesiologists, scrub and post-op nurses, and nurse anesthetists).

If you are a health professional interested in volunteering, please send an email to vo*******@*ih.org with information on your credentials, language capabilities (Haitian Creole or French desired), availability, and contact information.

As phone lines in Haiti remain down and transportation and communication are difficult, PIH is still in the process of determining where we can set up operations in Port-au-Prince, and how we can transport patients and volunteers to our sites. We will be able to offer more concrete information after these logistical matters are resolved.

Once again – thank you for your support. Kenbe fèm.

Related :

Become a Fan of Medicins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). Here …

Visit the Haitian Earthquake Relief Facebook page. Here.

Reports of Disinformation spreading:

The report circulating on Twitter and Facebook claiming that American Airlines is flying medical teams to Haiti for free is a fabrication. The story seemed a little too good to be true to us, so we called American Airlines corporate headquarters in Dallas to look into it. The Airline says it is contributing to the relief effort through the American Red Cross, but says it is not flying doctors and nurses to Haiti.

The company sent us the following official statement:

“Our humanitarian flights out of San Juan to PAP continue again today. We’ve incentivized our 62 million AAdvantage members to give cash to Red Cross and receive bonus miles from us.

Last night’s hoax on Twitter about American and Jet Blue flying doctors and nurses to Haiti for free was just that — a hoax. We do not know who is responsible. We cannot fly any passenger flights to Haiti at this time (U.S. Military in control of airport) and our efforts on the humanitarian front are as described above. We do not yet know when we will be allowed to resume passenger flights.”

A similar story suggesting that the United Parcel Service is shipping packages under 50 pounds to Haiti for free is also fabricated. The company tells the Miami Tribune that is donating $1 million to the relief effort instead.

The moral for bloggers and other citizen journalists? Your seemingly harmless Tweet or Facebook posting is potentially a powerful weapon of mass disinformation. So stop and think for a second before you pull the trigger. Take a moment to consider the report you’re reposting before you pass it on. Does the story make sense? Is it logical? Or does it – well – sound just a little too good to be true? If the source provides contact information, do what a good reporter would do and call to check. (As it turns out, the number provided for American Airlines is actually for the Honduran Consulate in New York. American Airlines is based in Dallas.) Don’t simply assume that a story checks out because somebody you know said so.

The Dog’s OAuth

Jan 18, 2010• 10

By ADRIAN GROPPER, MD

Adrian Gropper A simple technology for linking EHRs will have a major impact on health care.

We’ve all heard the one about what does the barking dog do when it catches the car.

The dogs of health IT seem to have caught their car when the Interim Final Rule for standards for meaningful use accepted certification of “EHR Modules” and left it up to the marketplace to decide how the modules would communicate with each other. I think ONC deserves much praise for a very fair and innovation-friendly approach.Continue reading…

Why health insurance reform really matters

Jan 17, 2010• 26

By CF Mother

Just occasionally we get a really heartfelt comment on THCB that is passionate and rational, and reminds us why for all the bile spewed about the topic the essential part of the health care bill—making insurance available to everyone—is really important. This comment from CF Mother was left on my post “Thinking the unthinkable” on Friday. And of course, this could happen to anyone—including you. And frankly the Democrats need to do a better job explaining this—Matthew Holt

Questions for those who do not support health care reform:

Twenty years ago our cheery toddler was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Afraid, we dug into the medical research to understand the disease that threatened his future. We healed through optimism, roused by the news eight days after his diagnosis that the gene that causes CF had been found, opening the door toward a cure. We knew that our heroes, the researchers and his doctors, would continue to find ways to protect his future. We were no longer afraid of CF.

The fear that woke me in the night was of losing our health insurance because our son was on every insurer’s no-fly list. While my husband’s profession was periodically roiled by layoffs, he decided against the security of opening his own firm because the cost of carrying coverage for our eldest son was too high, the thread on which his health care dangled too slight.

Update: Surgeons, nurses, and other medical personnel needed to help in Haiti

Jan 16, 2010• 3

By PARTNERS IN HEALTH

We are deeply grateful for the multitude of people who have contacted us wanting to provide medical assistance. At this time, while we wish we could use all of the support so generously offered, we are unable to accommodate any volunteers without significant surgical or trauma training and experience.

We are in need of: orthopedic surgeons, trauma surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, OR nurses, post-op nurses, and surgical technicians.

If your qualifications match this need, please fill out the following form ..

“FDA More Pro Industry Than Any Time in 35 Years”

Jan 16, 2010• 7

By MERRILL GOOZNER

Merrill

So says Jim Dickinson, editor of FDAWebview, an industry newsletter that closely follows enforcement issues at the agency. After reviewing the deregulatory shifts at the Food and Drug Administration since the Carter administration, he writes:

It has taken almost a generation, but by now, the pro-industry infiltration of FDA’s culture is firmly entrenched. Not only is collaboration in product reviews officially encouraged, but good relationships across the regulatory fence hold the prospect of a possible future career in a well-paid industry job – a connection that is less likely to be publicly noticed in news media that now have to line up for information that has been filtered through agency press offices. The arm’s-length relationship that formerly ruled every contact between agency and industry has become a fading memory.

He says the shift in culture accelerated after the 1992 passage of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, which made the agency dependent on industry funding. He concludes there’s nothing that Margaret Hamburg, the new commissioner, and Joshua Sharfstein, her deputy, can do about it. Quoting a former chief of enforcement, he writes:

User fees at FDA are the primary villain, because they “allowed the industry to dictate the changes at the FDA in programs, procedures and practices. It will be impossible for the Obama administration to reverse the trend because as long as the user fees are in place the industry has the upper hand.”

Radical stuff from an unexpected source.

The Union “Cadillac” Tax Sweetheart Deal

Jan 16, 2010• 16

By ROBERT LASZEWSKI

Just when you thought you couldn’t be more cynical about the health care bill.

As I have said before, there wasn’t a lot of hope the same administration that ignored the rule of law in granting unions priority over Chrysler bondholders was going to offend them on the “Cadillac” tax.

We’ve seen the “Louisiana purchase” giving Senator Landrieu hundreds of millions for her vote, only to be upstaged by Ben Nelson’s Medicaid deal for Nebraska. Then the Democratic leadership claimed the $250 billion Medicare physician fee problem didn’t have anything to do with health care reform. Add to that a “robust” Medicare commission that can’t touch doctor or hospital costs. Or, how about six years of benefits under the bill and ten years of taxes. Or, counting $70 billion from the new long-term care program as offsetting revenue to help pay for it.

Now, the unions and public employees are going to be exempt from the “Cadillac” excise tax on high cost plans until 2018.It will be interesting to see how proponents, or should I say apologists, for this health care effort spin the latest. I would just ask that you please, please, please, not call this mess health care reform.

There is an important election on Tuesday in the Bay State that looks to be
focused on the Democratic health care effort. This kind of stunt may just be enough to push it over the edge.

Is it 2013 (or 2014) Yet?

Jan 15, 2010• 15

By JD KLEINKE

Nope, it’s only 2010 – a new year to be sure, as evidenced by stabilizing home prices and normalizing presidential approval ratings. But you can stop holding your organization’s breath, slow down the conversion of that emergency room to a primary care clinic, and forget coming clean with your health insurer about your actual medical conditions. Health “reform” won’t be here until 2014, if the Senate bill – passed just as Santa Claus was loading up his own sled with presents – prevails in the legislative horse-trading that begins this week.

Or it could be here as early as 2013, if we give way to the reckless abandon of the House bill. In either case, fear not: full implementation of The Plan does not occur until well after the end of the world, according to the Mayan calendar. If this is a government take-over of health care, taking their sweet time may prove to be a brilliant poker strategy.Continue reading…

PharmaSecure using SMS to detect counterfeit drugs

Jan 15, 2010• 4

By Matthew Holt

In developing countries, (and here too) counterfeit drugs are a mega-big problem. Essentially fraudulently labeled drugs in the supply chain are often not what they say they are, with potentially devastating consequences. But there’s no really easy way for companies to monitor their supply chain. We ran into PharmaSecure as they were getting off the ground last year, and yesterday I met CEO Sarah Hine who showed me how their technology allows the consumer to directly connect with the manufacturer using SMS.

A very innovative use of technology and a very interesting brief interview (complete with demo!). They’ve also just raised a $2m series A round.