Uncle Sam wants your doctor go to digital. And the federal government is backing that up with money for practices that start using computerized systems for record keeping. Nearly half of all physicians in America still rely on paper records for most patient care. Time is running out for those who do to take advantage of federal funds to make the switch. So practices like are scrambling to get with the program. Nearly 200 patients come through the office on a typical day. Doctors and staff pop in and out of exam rooms and offices constantly, carrying big stacks of manila folders holding patient charts.
This past spring, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called the impending implementation of the Affordable Care Act "a huge train wreck." His words caught my attention because the last time the federal government delivered a new health-care benefit to more than 40 million people, I drove the train. As secretary of health and human services during President George W. Bush's second term, I faced the daunting task of rolling out Medicare's new prescription drug benefit. Commonly referred to as "Part D," the program is considered a tremendous success: Premiums have remained low, the program operates well under its projected budget and 90 percent of seniors are satisfied with their plan.
Kaiser Permanente has found that a patient is 2.6 times more likely to stay with a particular physician in its network if he or she is using the company's KP.org site to do things such as message back and forth with the doctor. Aurora Health Care found that no-shows for doctor visits fell from around 10% to just 2% if the patient made the appointment using the provider's online scheduling system. Vanguard Health Systems has layered about 8.5 billion pieces of consumer data on top of clinical healthcare data in hopes of better understanding people coming to its website.
Ever since Kentucky rapidly shifted patients from traditional Medicaid to private health plans that manage their care for a set price, problems have been widespread. Patients complain of being denied treatment or forced to travel long distances to find a doctor or hospital in their plan's network. Advocates for the mentally ill argue the care system for them has deteriorated. And hospitals and doctors say health plans have denied or delayed payments. Experts warn that what happened in Kentucky should be a cautionary tale for other states that rush to switch large numbers of people in Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor and disabled, to managed care in hopes of cutting costs and improving quality.
They look like fancied-up swim goggles — but could save stroke victims' lives. Brooklyn Maimonides Medical Center is the first hospital in the city to obtain high-tech glasses which will make it easier for stroke teams in the emergency room to identify stroke victims who don't have the usual symptoms. "This is a big deal," said Dr. Steven Rudolph, director of the Borough Park hospital's Jaffe Stroke Center. "This will help us find stroke victims we would otherwise miss without an MRI." Stroke nurses and neurologists will be trained to start using the break-through testing device in Maimonides' ER this summer to detect a type of stroke which starts with sudden dizziness.
We're less than three months away from the start of open enrollment for the health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act, and Marilyn Tavenner is busily trying to spread the word. Tavenner manages the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the $820 billion federal agency charged with implementing the rollout of the exchanges. The state-based exchanges will enable individuals and small businesses to shop for health plans. The exchanges, or marketplaces, will help consumers and small businesses to compare and purchase qualified health plans. The exchanges of 26 states, including Texas, will be operated by the federal government.