March 2010 - Health Beat - The Network of Care

To all readers:

To all readers: Yesterday (Monday March 29) some readers experienced problems when trying to leave comments on HeathBeat. TypePad is now monitoring the situation and seems to have fixed it. But if anyone continues to have a problem, please e-mail... Read...

Published Tue, Mar 30 2010 10:40 AM by Health Beat

Atul Gawande in the April 5 New Yorker: Now What?-- Gawnde and Berwick on the Same Page

In the April 5 New Yorker Atul Gawande writes about the backlash that health care reformers can expect in the months ahead. He reminds us that when Medicare passed “it faced a year of nearly crippling rearguard attacks.” Few remember... Read More...

Published Mon, Mar 29 2010 4:20 PM by Health Beat

Will Berwick Face a Rough Fight in the Senate?

Over at the New America Foundation’s New Health Dialogue, Joanne Kenen, who covered Congress for more than a decade before becoming a healthcare maven, reports that at least “one well-placed Senate source is quite worried that this could be another.....

Published Mon, Mar 29 2010 3:07 PM by Health Beat

Atul Gawande in the April 5 New Yorker: Now What?-- Maybe We Should Pay Hospitals for Empty Beds?

In the April 5 New Yorker Atul Gawande writes about the backlash that health care reformers can expect in the months ahead. He reminds us that when Medicare passed “it faced a year of nearly crippling rearguard attacks.” Few remember... Read More...

Published Mon, Mar 29 2010 2:07 PM by Health Beat

“Minimally Disruptive Medicine”

Hannah Fields, a med student at Mayo who has just begun blogging, offers a provocative essay on medical care that “fits”—not the doctor’s beliefs or even objective medical evidence, but “the patient’s reality.” She writes: “In the real world, we... Read...

Published Sun, Mar 28 2010 6:05 PM by Health Beat

Berwick to Head Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS); Who Is Don Berwick and What Will This Mean for Reform? Part 1

The rumors that I wrote about Friday http://www.healthbeatblog.com/2010/03/dr-don-berwick-to-become-new-medicare-director-if-its-true-th.html are, in fact, true. President Obama will name Dr. Donald Berwick, president of the Institute for Health Care...

Published Sun, Mar 28 2010 1:28 PM by Health Beat

Congress Agrees to Lash Itself to the Mast; Making It Possible For Medicare To Move Forward With Reform—Update

A surprising number of Congressmen would acknowledge, privately, that in the past, legislators have meddled with Medicare reform, blocking Medicare’s best efforts to squeeze waste out of the system. When it comes to listening to appeals from powerful...

Published Fri, Mar 26 2010 5:58 PM by Health Beat

Video Segments of Dr. Donald Berwick from the Documentary Money Driven Medicine

The following video segments are from the documentary Money Driven Medicine and are presented courtesy of the film's distributor California Newsreel www.newsreel.org (The player uses Adobe Flash Player available here) Is American Health Care the Best...

Published Fri, Mar 26 2010 1:50 PM by Health Beat

Dr. Don Berwick to Become Medicare Director? If It’s True, This Is Wonderful News

Within the past hour both New America Foundation’s Joanne Kenen and Wall Street Journal blog “Washington Wire” have reported the rumor—not yet confirmed—that President Obama has chosen Dr. Donald Berwick, the president and founder of the Institute for...

Published Fri, Mar 26 2010 11:49 AM by Health Beat

Listen to Maggie on Why Conservatives Are So Upset About Reform

Those who oppose reform understand just how powerful this legislation is. They understand—better than many liberals—just what it means for a medical-industrial complex that has grown fat while profiting from runaway health- care inflation. Going forward...

Published Wed, Mar 24 2010 3:01 PM by Health Beat

Over-treating Birth? C-section Rates Hit an All-time High of 32%

The figures are alarming: The cesarean rate in this country has increased 50% since 1996; hitting an all-time high of 32% of all deliveries. What could possibly be fueling this dramatic rise in surgery? The latest figures come from a... Read More...

Published Wed, Mar 24 2010 2:50 PM by Health Beat

Orrin Hatch: “Do You Realize They’re Going to Subsidize Families Making More than $80,000 A Year?”—What Reform Will Mean For You and Your Family

Appearing on CNN yesterday morning, Senator Orrin Hatch (R, Utah) groused about what he called the “Europeanization” of health care. Translated, that means that we have decided to take a more collective approach to survival. If you cannot afford health...

Published Wed, Mar 24 2010 7:29 AM by Health Beat

Medical Professionals Must Lead: This is Your Revolution--Atul Gawnade

Writing on the New Yorker’s “News Desk” today, Boston surgeon Atul Gawande laid out the challenge that health care reform poses for hospital administrators, physicians, nurses and every other professional in our health care system. (By professionals,...

Published Mon, Mar 22 2010 6:31 PM by Health Beat

“I Am Not Bound to Win, But I Am Bound to Be True”

So many said it would never happen. But now, on Sunday, March 21, 2010, it appears that reformers have the votes. Politico.com has announced that the last hold-outs--legislators who oppose abortion-- have reached an agreement with the White House. (Under...

Published Sun, Mar 21 2010 2:09 PM by Health Beat

Bob Wachter: The Process Was “Nauseating,” But the Policy That Emerged “Ain’t Bad”

If Rachel Maddow’s interview with Dan Rather (below), depressed you, I suggest Bob Wachter’s post on The Health Care Blog as an antidote. It’s titled: “Could It Be That the System (Gasp!) Works?” (http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog...

Published Sat, Mar 20 2010 6:16 PM by Health Beat

March 2010 - Health Beat

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