What Doctors Want for U.S. Healthcare Reforms
U.S. Critical Medical Care Issues, Docs Say Right Changes are Needed
Sep 27, 2009
It is another American conflict developing – political shots and volleys ring out from the left and the right – and sounds of the ideological battle echo throughout the land.
For those who originally stood in the middle of this battle – there is now, no middle ground. Almost all citizens have come to realize that change in American healthcare will have major consequences – financially, personally, and for the foreseeable future. To get a better sense of where all this is going, one should understand what different American doctors are saying and doing, and for that purpose a proposed MillionMedMarch is scheduled for noon, on Thursday, October 1 in Washington, D.C. Some doctors will leave their offices for the last half of the work week to make the case for true reform – they intend to present doctors' examinations and diagnostic views of the entire body of American healthcare.
Doctors Cite Problems Complaints and Criticisms of U.S. Healthcare
It has been said that if someone does not know how a particular job is really done, and what needs to be done to make it work well, then they should refrain from suggesting on how it could be done better. Re-phrased, for medicine in the United States, this adage suggests that doctors, whose job is medicine, should know best how to fix healthcare problems. More and more doctors indicate that the proposed legislative fixes by Congress will not solve the problem – instead, current proposed legislation may well compound the issue. But, the first question really is – what is really wrong with U.S. healthcare from the doctors' viewpoint?
Here are four big problems in U.S. healthcare:
- Excessive paperwork and complicated rules that make medical practice more expensive and difficult without enhancing quality medical care.
- Higher administrative costs related to third-party payers and insurance company administrative costs that are passed on to doctors and patients.
- Insufficient compensation for doctors' work.
- Extremely high physicians' malpractice insurance costs, needed to protect against lawsuits, many of which are frivolous and unfounded.
Ten Essential Ideas That Medical Doctors Want, Seek and Encourage for Reform Legislation
Doctors (see all Sources below) have contributed commentaries that address important medical issues. Richard A. Armstrong, MD, FCAS, proposed important medical and health considerations in an open letter to President Obama on 17 September 2009, and Richard Chudacuff, MD, FCOG, strongly indicated the pressing doctors' dilemmas and needs for the practice of quality, excellent medicine. The topics that follow summarize some important and significant needs of doctors:
- Assure proper patient to doctor ratios. Do not overload the medical system with 30-40 million new patients, since the doctor to patient ratio is already stretched.
- Adequate doctor-patient time and doctor-patient communication are needed. Medicine is not, and should not become, a cookie-cutter profession.
- Provide adequate money for patient care, and research in medicine.
- Recognize the continued need for doctors in multiple disciplines. General practioners of family medicine are critical, but so are specialists in all medical disciplines including infant, senior, internal medicine, oncology, radiology, surgery, emergency room, and other medical specialties.
- Decrease medical administrative insurance costs for doctors, and promote doctor-patient relationships in all health insurance policies; reduction of business costs benefits patients and physicians.
- Remove third-party payers (or, prevent single-payer system) for office visits and medical services since these increase expenses for the patient and physician. Promote patient-centric payer system.
- Provide low cost, brand-name drugs for all patients in the United States (as in Mexico and Canada).
- Compensate doctors fairly for patient care rather than setting arbitrary numbers or standards that are inappropriate for the services rendered.
- Make medical malpractice reform a priority. Promote proper patient compensation and remediation programs when justified, to reduce the overall cost of medicine throughout the U.S.
- Eliminate fraud and waste now in all current government programs including: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, federal loan programs and multiple other programs. These savings would assure citizen confidence, and help these programs remain viable and healthy.
Healthcare Reform Requires Citizen and Voter Involvement with Doctors and Legislators
Americans can benefit from a strong debate on healthcare reform that considers private insurance, the public option and movement toward a single-payer, similar to that in Canada and Europe. These discussions, by an informed populace, may lead to a better plan – only time will tell.
The MillionMedMarch of October 1, 2009 will highlight doctors' approaches to healthcare reform. High noon in Washington on that Thursday is an important day to listen, watch and debate.
Sources
- doctorsonstrike.com
- drsforamerica.org/learnmore.php
- Henry, Julie. 2009. Rushing Healthcare Reform May Do More Harm, Than Good. wake.mync.com/site/wake/news/story/40055/rushing-healthcare-reform-may-do-more-harm-say-doctors/
- Pate, Randolph W., and Derek Hunter. 2006. Code Blue: The Case for Serious State Medical Liability Reform. heritage.org/Research/HealthCare/bg1908.cfm
- Kouri, Jim. 2009. Billions in Medicare/Medicaid Lost to Fraud Abuse. examiner.com/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m7d23-Billions-in-MedicareMedicaid-lost-to-fraud-abuse
- Terry, Nancy R. 2009. Physicians Are Talking About: The Million Med March on Washington. medscape.com/viewarticle/708502
- Turk, Russell. 2009. Why We Need Medical Malpractice Reform. dailyfinance.com/2009/09/23/why-we-need-medical-malpractice-reform/
- millionmedmarch.com
- okhealthcarereform.com
- physiciansforreform.org/index.php?id=1
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
