New Medicare regulations allow for annual “end-of-life” counseling as part of the annual wellness check-up covered by Medicare as of January 1, 2011.  This end-of-life counseling, covered in Section 1233 of the Healthcare Reform Bill passed by the House, but not included in the final bill signed into law by President Obama, is the section of the Healthcare Reform Bill dubbed ‘Death Panels’ by opponents of the bill.  Since most Americans still indicate that they oppose the Healthcare Reform Bill, writing this provision into the new regulations, rather than include it in the bill, is an attempt to circumvent the political process, and the will of the people.  Politics aside, what are the ramifications of this regulation to the Medicare Provider?

I came across an editorial that was published in the November 11, 2010 issue of USA Today concerning the number of patients who die every year due to medical ‘adverse events’. They cited a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services which estimated that 180,000 patients die every year from ‘adverse events’ in the healthcare field. While this number is extremely alarming, I fear that it is actually a low number, based on the reluctance of doctors to report ‘adverse events’ due to the liability involved.

How do you define a successful practice?  Everyone will answer this question differently, and they will all be right, for them. But, no matter what your definition of a successful practice, there are several criteria that must be met in order for you to obtain the success that you want to achieve.  Integrating any or all of these processes into your life will improve you overall success.

The Medical Home, AKA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), is defined as an approach to providing comprehensive primary care that facilitates partnerships between individual patients, and their personal providers, and when appropriate, the patient’s family. The goal of the Medical Home is provide better healthcare for the patient, a less stressful environment for the Doctor, and at less cost to everyone.

The concept of the Medical Home has been in existence since 1967 when it was introduced by the American Academy of Pediatricians to provide better healthcare for children with severe medical problems.

There are several changes in Medicare, which are required by the Healthcare Reform Bill, which took effect on January 1, 2011.   These changes largely affect the amount paid by Medicare for Medicare participants for drugs and doctors’ services.  Here is a brief recap of the changes which occurred on January 1, 2011:

Semantics?  Or is there a tangible difference between the two words and professions?

The dictionary claims that there is difference between the two words, then later says that the two are interchangeable, at least in the US.  So which one are you?

A physician (technically speaking) is a person skilled or involved with ‘physic’.  Physic is an old French word for ‘art of healing’ or’ natural science’.  The suffix ‘ician also from the old French and refers to the person skilled in a profession, and now refers to an occupation.  Therefore a ‘Physician’ is a person skilled in the occupation of healing or natural science.  Does this describe you?

On Monday, January 31st, Federal Judge Roger Vinson, declared the Healthcare Reform Bill unconstitutional, setting up a path for the new law to be heard by the US Supreme Court.  It may take weeks or months until the final decision on the Healthcare Reform Bill is reached.  In the meantime, we should discuss real healthcare reform that can benefit patients and doctors while saving money throughout the whole system.  There are several areas where healthcare reform can be achieved that actually make sense.