Electronic or Paper…Some things don’t change

Posted by barbarahales

Nowadays, we as physicians must spend at least as much time and attention “treating our charts” as we do treating our patients.
Even when the charts were strictly paper, it was crucial that we write down everything that was done and seen.
Courts have long taken the premise that if it isn’t in the chart, it wasn’t [...]

Scale Back to Gain

Posted by barbarahales

President Barak Obama has a vision of change but change comes at a price- a steep one.
The country is expected to scale back to pay for his vision:

Those who drink high sugar beverages will have to pay a higher amount or scale back drinking them
Those who have tax deductions from their earnings will have to [...]

Challenges of Employer Mandated Health Care

Posted by barbarahales

In the quest for universal health insurance coverage, a proposal was made to mandate employers equaling a given size to offer coverage or assist their employees in paying for the health insurance.
This proposal has many advocates.
Big Pharma finds the plan attractive because it would reap great benefit from it.  Millions of new customers could afford [...]

Public Insurance Plan Draws Many Critics

Posted by barbarahales

President Obama feels that a public insurance plan would create more competition with improved premium rates for Americans.
On the other hand, with the array of insurance companies offering health care policies now, there already is competition and rates have actually been lowered over the last few years in relation to inflation.
Because the government can use [...]

Will YOU Be Paying For the Health Care Bill?

Posted by barbarahales

Providing health care to every American is a costly panacea that may total more than $1 trillion dollars in ten years.Â
Where will all this money come from?
Proposals to support a new plan have been made from three chief sources- The White House, The Senate Finance Committee and The House.
Let’s review each of these.Â
Â
The House:
·      Slash [...]

How to Implement Meaningful Use and What Constitutes It.

Posted by barbarahales

A recent press release invites anyone interested to participate in a town call web conference  from the Certification Commission.  It states:
The Certification Commission is planning two Town Call web conferences on June 16 and 17 to gather stakeholder input on new paths to certification of electronic health record (EHR) technologies, with the goal of supporting [...]

Still a Man’s World

Posted by barbarahales

A report issued from Yale University School of Medicine reveals that female researchers earn 8% less than male counterparts and make up fewer tenured researchers along all surveyed discipline lines.Â
Although female scientists do get hired at universities, results show that fewer are applying according to a report from the National Research Council. Analyzing data from [...]

Who will Foot the Bill or Will it Come from Liquid Assets

Posted by barbarahales

President Obama has been attempting to overhaul the healthcare system with a sense of both urgency and zeal.  In doing so, the administration’s plan is forecasted to set back Americans between $1.2 to $1.5 trillion within the next decade.
The staggering financial bill begs the question- where will be money come from?
In order to fund the [...]

Response to Are You Getting Patient Referrals

Posted by barbarahales

When a new patient transferred into my practice, it was customary to ask why they chose to leave the last office.  The answers they gave might be very surprising to some professionals.
When people are unhappy with the practice, it is not necessarily you.Â
Ask yourself- is there easy access to the office? i.e. parking availableÂ
Is your [...]

Wait a Moment Please

Posted by barbarahales

According to an article in USA Today by Erin Thompson, there is an increase in length of time to obtain an appointment at a doctor’s office, by as much as several months in urban areas.Â
This was supported by a study done by the consulting firm  Merritt Hawkins who surveyed more than eleven hundred medical [...]