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I’m very torn about healthcare reform. As a business owner smack dab at the epicenter of the effects of healthcare reform, it’s a very timely boon to our business. As a taxpayer, although I think a lot of the reforms are necessary, I’m very skeptical about how we go about implementing and paying for it. And in many ways, I think so much more could have been done.
Good for business, but good for patients?
For Picis, healthcare reform and its companion legislation, the ARRA HITECH stimulus money, are going to spur tremendous growth opportunities. Today, the 32 million people that will soon be insured will end up going to the hospital emergency room for care under the EMTALA law (where hospitals aren’t allowed to turn away ER patients). The only problem is the hospital ends up footing the bill, putting pressure on their margins and reducing their ability to invest capital in IT and other systems. After covering 4 million more lives here in Massachusetts, we actually saw ER visits go up by 7 percent. Why? We didn’t add any more primary care doctors, and these newly insured patients swelled the offices of the existing general practitioner population to the point where 56 percent are no longer taking new patients. So where do these patient go? You guessed it – back to the ER, but for an entirely different reason. They’re not going to the hospital to get the only free care they can get – they’ve now got insurance – they’re going because they can’t find a doctor to see them in the ambulatory setting.
Welcome to the inaugural post of Healthcare-Exchange, a forum designed to offer fresh perspective, encourage the exchange of ideas and drive discussion — no matter how controversial — all in the name of healthcare.
A term that’s come to encompass so much more than a doctor’s visit, healthcare in the US has seen more changes over the past few years than in the 20 years before it. From the electronic health record to patient safety to universal coverage, we invite you to weigh in on the issues that will make the biggest impact on the healthcare world in the year ahead. Below, I’ve included my Top Five Predictions for 2010 and want to hear if you’re on the same page:
