On The Health Care Blog (THCB), Dr. Vineet Arora argues that being a doctor is not as attractive as it once was. She writes: After all, why go into this much debt and spend so much time in training if your prospects are not much better? More recently, the New York Times article points out [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Nonphysician Clinicians' Category
Nurse anesthetists: To Reimburse or Not to Reimburse?
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently approved reimbursing nurse anesthetists for care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Critics say it jeopardizes patient safety, while supporters say it extends health care to pain patients who are often underserved by the medical community. The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) (unsurprisingly) applauds the decision. Janice [...]
Read the rest of this entry »America’s Oral Health Crisis…and a Solution?
Frontline has done extensive reporting on the problems of dental care in America. In particular, they cite the lack of quality that both children and adults receive at various corporate dental firms (e.g., KoolSmiles, Aspen Dental). The problem should not be placed solely on these corporate firms, however. Reimbursement rates for dentists are low to [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Why did Blue Sheild fail to pay for a home birth?
The Illenbergers wanted to have a home birth. To do this, they contracted with a Licensed Midwife. The birth was successful and the mother and baby are happy and healthy. But Blue Shield of California refused to pay for any of the cost. The cost of hiring the LM was $4500. WebMD reports that a [...]
Read the rest of this entry »In which states do nurse pracitioners have the broadest scope of practice?
A July 2012 IOM report recommends changing state laws to allow “nurse practitioners and physician assistants to practice to the full extent of their educational preparation.” Based on information from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), not all states currently allow permit NPs this flexibility. Currently 16 states and the District of Columbia (see below) [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Patients demand for on-demand care
As patients are becoming used to quicker turn-around times in other retail industries, expectations regarding health care waiting times are rising. As PwC reports: Heightened desire for “on-demand” healthcare in the form of telemedicine, mobile health, social media and retail clinics has fueled the move toward healthcare anywhere, anytime. Nearly one in four consumers surveyed [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Home Births: Feminists vs. OB/GYNs
Why aren’t physicians more supportive of home births and midwifery? The answer is that it eats into their market share and reduces their income. “[In the 1970s] feminists argued that medical care needed to be demystified and women’s lives demedicalized. They maintained that childbirth was not a disease and normal deliveries did not require hospitalization [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Are nurse practitioners cost effective?
Nurse practitioners (NPs) are non-physician clinicians that can often either assist or directly provide primary care. Some studies have found that NPs can independently manage 80 percent of patients’ primary care needs. Other studies show that NPs provide high-quality care. A recent article, however, suggests that NPs may not be cost effective. This is a curious [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Physicians: Coming to a Home Near You
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, physician home visits in the U.S. were very common. In fact, the home was the primary place where medicine was practiced. Because physician wages at this time were comparable to those of the average laborer, a market which forced physicians to internalize the time and transportation costs to [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Wal-mart to be the biggest health retailer in the nation?
Hot off the press: Walmart announced it would stop offering health insurance benefits to new part-time employees, the retailer sent out a request for information seeking partners to help it “dramatically … lower the cost of healthcare … by becoming the largest provider of primary healthcare services in the nation.” Why would Wal-mart want to [...]
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