Stumbled upon this post and video this morning. This is validation of exactly what 1-800MD is doing. Even Mayo Clinic is looking to reduce cost and improve access to care using telemedicine.
Credit to 3GDoctor Blog which is where I found this.
Posts Tagged ‘primary care’
Effective eConsultations
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010Shortage of Primary Care Physicians in Massachusetts
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010Today’s Wall St Journal has an editorial entitled, “The Failure of RomneyCare”. It contains some fascinating statistics about , the average physician availability in the Bay State. In fact, the Massachusetts Medical Society refers to the situation as a “critical shortage” of primary care physicians. “56% of Massachusetts internal medicine physicians no longer are accepting new patients according to a 2009 physician work-force study conducted by the Massachusetts Medical Society. For new patients who do get an appointment with a primary-care doctor, the waiting time is 44 days… ”
Dr. Sandra Schneider, the vice president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, told the Boston Globe last April, “Just because you have insurance doesn’t mean there’s a physician who can see you.”
Once again the issues are pretty clear. Our ongoing medical issues are centered on access and cost containment.
Primary Care Physicians Cut Back Hours
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010You need to read this. Keep in mind that if healthcare passes, it does not create more doctors. It does not automatically give people access to medical professionals. It does give them the means to pay for it, if they can find it. Unfortunately, the shortage of doctors grows.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35545561/ns/health-health_care/from/ET
How Many Things are Wrong with You??
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010How often do you go to the doctor? If you are like me you don’t go often because it is inconvenient and expensive. Health issues tend to pile up. When something comes along for which I really need immediate treatment, I make an appointment and I go. Now, the national average cost for a visit to the doctor’s office is about $65. That, however, does not tell the whole story. If I go in for a sore throat and I am seeking an antibiotic, I also do a “health care dump”. “Doc I have a sore throat, but there is more. My elbow hurts, I have a mole on my arm I would like you to look at, allergy season is coming and I need a new antihistamine, and I am about out of my asthma medication.” My doctor listens intently and taps away on this little electronic note pad. He then diagnoses and prescribes something for each of my illnesses. Each malady is an International Classification of Disease (ICD). Each prescription is a Common Procedural Terminology (CPT). For every CPT, the doctor is reimbursed. So, when I go in for my sore throat which should cost me $65, I walk out of there with a bill for $300! This leads me to my second observation. Insurance co-pays are going away in all but the most “cadillac” of insurance plans. The co-pay will be replaced by higher deductibles. For most people the significance of this is lost, but when you combine the “health care dump” to the end of co-pays, you get a very significant monetary event. Before, I paid $15 to $25 for my co-pay and I could tell the doctor everything that was bothering me. I would do so because it was convenient and because I was making the best use of my co-pay. The insurance company paid the remaining $285 for the CPTs. Now, if I have failed to exceed my deductible, I have to pay the entire $300. It shifts the cost burden away from the insurance company and on to the consumer. In some ways, this is a good thing. It forces the consumer of medical services to shop for a better deal in health care. However, it could mean that I opt not to have the doctor help me with my elbow or take a look at the mole. Maybe I do without the asthma treatment, which, during an asthma attack, can put tremendous strain on my heart. No, the best solution is not to eliminate care, but to find a more cost effective delivery system. Many telemedicine offerings will do the entire “health care dump” for a flat fee. Viva la consumer!!!!
What is Capitation?
Friday, February 19th, 2010In U.S. health services, capitation refers to a fixed “per capita” amount that is paid to a hospital, clinic or doctor for each person served. It is the basis for the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). You collect a flat fee to cover a certain number of lives and you hope that you have collected enough to do the job. In fact, you hope you have collected enough to do the job and still have some left over for profit. I will try to tie all of these health models together in a future blog.
What is Primary Care?
Sunday, February 14th, 2010Primary Care can be considered one of primary healthcare’s core services. I used Barbara Starfield’s definition of primary care. Starfield believes that primary care is the crucial foundation of a healthcare system and defines the key features of primary care as being the first point of entry to a healthcare system, the provider of person-focused care (not disease oriented) over time for all but the most uncommon conditions and the part of the system that integrates or co-ordinates care provided elsewhere or by others. Attached is a White Paper which discusses the great difficulty of bringing Primary Care and Public Health together. The hurdles are staggering.
Modernizing health care delivery
Thursday, January 21st, 2010For those that remember Watergate, you may recall the quote from Woodward and Bernstein’s source, Deep Throat: “Follow the money”. Like so many other things in our society, much can be revealed by following the economic trail and motivations that the system provides. Let’s take one simple example.
Perhaps you have had a sore throat before. You call your primary care physician and he can get you an appointment- next Thursday. His calendar is already full, and this makes sense because he is economically enticed to see as many patients as possible during a work day. Your next stop is the Urgent Care center. This avenue is available immediately, but when you arrive, the wait time is 4 hours. They tell you 2 hours at the desk, but we all know how that goes. (more…)
Hot off the press!
Friday, January 15th, 2010January 15, 2010 / The Association of American Medical Colleges has estimated that due to population growth, aging and other factors, the country is facing a potential shortage of 159,000 primary care physicians by 2025. Telemedicine technologies help scarce healthcare professionals reach the widest patient population most efficiently. This number rose from earlier projections of a 40,000 shortage by 2020. Unfortunately, that’s about the time I’m really going to need to see my doctor.
Doctor Shortage
Friday, January 15th, 2010I’m a bit of a telemedicine information junkie. What I am reading suggests that we are facing a huge shortage of primary care doctors. The numbers are pretty consistent and seem to indicate that we will have a shortage of 40,000 primary care physicians in the next 10 years. If only 32% of our doctors are now primary care and if healthcare reform passes and we add another 40 million people or so to the system how can this possibly work???? This would seem to add tremendous credibility to telemedicine technology solutions.