September 2009
66 posts
Does Mr. Obama need a big contrarian move to turn...
If Mr. Mcullough’s analysis is at all on target, Mr. Obama and the current Washington crew need to do something (different), and fast. I think he needs something big. A big, against the grain type tack. So here’s what I suggest (are you listening Mr. President?):
Buy some air time - interrupt something big like the first Monday Night Football game…ok bad idea. Get on the...
Full Disclosure? →
“Grassley has received nearly $1.3 million in contributions from health industry interests over the past six years, according to Maplight.org, a nonpartisan research group. Only six senators have received more campaign money from these interests. Grassley projects himself as a public watchdog. But some Iowans at his public meetings around the state this month said his heavy health industry...
August 2009
38 posts
Healthcare Reform in 3 Easy Steps
1. Allow purchase of health insurance across state lines
2. Make individually purchased health insurance plans tax deductible
3. Allow physicians to write off uncompensated care for those who cannot pay on their tax returns
I can see the headline: "Massive Outbreak of H1N1... →
…joking, joking
The Efficient Markets Theory - another reason it... →
People are knowingly buying bankrupt companies in hopes of out-timing their demise. Weird indeed. The efficient markets theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient_market_theory) might hold up, if only humans always translated information into wisdom.
1 tag
Freedom of Speech and Health Care Reform- when was... →
I had never heard of the AAPS until this year - in contrast to the American Medical Association (AMA). Those AMA sponsored disability insurance mailers haven’t stopped clogging my mailbox since med school began. And why did all the students who got involved with of the AMA student chapter always seem to get to go on cool, free trips to Hawaii? I’m sure they were working out some...
The More Things Change... →
30 years ago. This is fascinating on many levels.
1) the arguments haven’t changed - see page 2, even Kennedy’s tonsillectomy example is the same one Obama used a few months ago!
2) a few years ago we would have had to go to the library and pull some microfiche, or pick it up at some garage sale to read this. So cool.
Today history certainly is more accessible to us . But do we...
The Postal Service and Government Healthcare →
“It provides a basic service that’s not available from the private sector.”
“Firms like FedEx and UPS compete with some of the services the Postal Service offers. That’s because they’ve targeted parts of the delivery business that can be profitable if run efficiently.”
UPS and Fed Ex targeted the only market they could: carrying a letter from one house...
“In every aspect of your business (and personal life) try to allow others to...”
– New Rules for the New Economy (via heyitsnoah) (via rahmin)
Health Insurers and Profit Margins →
Compare and Contrast with other (health related) businesses
A Duke Professor Breaks Down HR 3200 - (almost)... →
1 tag
19 Surgeon Associations Respond To President Obama →
1 tag
Tort Reform →
West Virginia Attorney Richard Lindsay says such legal reforms would not be needed if there were standard guidelines for care that doctors would have to adhere to when treating patients…
“You know who’s opposed to those types of things? The medical profession,” Lindsay asked and answered on Wednesday’s MetroNews Talkline. “They don’t want to have...
Outcomes
The other night I participated in a webinar about reverse total shoulder arthroplasty - a form of shoulder replacement surgery used in special circumstances http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00094 (btw, if anyone can tell me how to create the url link without cutting and pasting the whole url address, I would be very appreciative). I logged into a site called VuMedi...
1 tag
Will this type of "Reform" lower costs? →
Watch
via Air America
Public Good
“In economics, a public good is a good that is non-rivaled and non-excludable. This means, respectively, that consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce availability of the good for consumption by others; and that no one can be effectively excluded from using the good.[1] In the real world, there may be no such thing as an absolutely non-rivaled and non-excludable...
Is Healthcare a Public Good? →
Dr. Jeoffrey Gordon, a family practice physician writes a guest editorial today at the above linked blog, KevinMD:
My response to Dr. Gordon:
You make your argument well. However your argument, like all arguments rests on a certain set of assumptions. One of these assumptions is that the concept of “public good” is obvious and well defined. I would argue that the definition of public good is...
1 tag
Medicare's Current Status →
Coroner rules Michael Jackson’s death a homicide →
jayparkinsonmd:
Be wary of any doctor who chooses fame and “the opportunity of a lifetime” over what’s best for the patient.
Sometimes even seemingly harmless things can go awry.
When I worked at Public Citizen (Nader’s group in DC) I wrote a petition to the FDA to ban third generation oral contraceptives. Why? Because the risk of blood clots was twice as much as the risk of blood clots in the...
1 tag
Moving
Admittedly moving is one of my least favorite activities. It’s not the discovering and exploring a new area of the globe thing that I detest. It’s the packing of all of my stuff into cardboard boxes, labelled “bedroom” “kitchen” and “bathroom,” lugging it to my new abode and then unpacking it into my new bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Phew! ...
"Misrepresentations"
Yesterday, in speaking about health reform in his weekly radio address, President Obama said:
”This is an issue of vital concern to every American, and I’m glad that so many are engaged. But it also should be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions…”
In a recent letter to the president, Dr. Joseph Zuckerman, President...
1 tag
Surgical Checklists
Every year, 2,700 surgical patients go home from the hospital with metal tools, sponges, and other objects left inside them. In 2000, fifty-seven people died as a result of these mistakes.
jayparkinsonmd:
I would actually say that this number is lower than expected. Here’s a perfect tool to save lives— the surgical checklist. Created by one of my mentors at Hopkins, Peter Provonost, it could...
1 tag
George Will on Greed →
Sorry, I got stuck reading a few of his columns. Good read on how greed gets punished. Hint: information is power.
1 tag
Capitalism and Socialism
I don’t know if I’ve heard these terms bantered about with this velocity in a long time. And all about healthcare… Correct me if I’m wrong but the way I learned these terms was as follows:
Capitalism is the economic system in which private property ownership is the cornerstone for the production and distribution of goods and services. Socialism is the economic system...
1 tag
George Will on Healthcare Reform →
Will makes a good point when he states that all healthcare is rationed at some level by price or by politics. The Republicans, while banging the “rationing” gong ever loudly, have failed to delineate this point well enough. And the Democrats want us to believe that they can re-engineer the laws of supply and demand.
While I am pleased to see this debate come to the forefront, I am...
2 tags
The Broken Window Fallacy →
Peter Schiff opines on the “Cash for Clunkers” program and draws a parallel to the “broken window fallacy.” (see http://freedomkeys.com/window.htm).
American Politics →
“No, it is like watching the World Wrestling Federation. They pretend to be arch-enemies on the stage. After the cameras go off, they do their deals together. There is very little difference between the two parties.”
Gerald Celente’s view on American politics - interesting take
First words
Welcome. Thank you for choosing to spend some of the precious and limited moments of your life reading my words. I would like to first thank a few people. 1) Jay Parkinson. After posting a few comments on Jay’s blog, Jay and I met up in NYC for some beers. We found that we shared some common passions, namely technology and making healthcare better. Jay encouraged me to start my own site...
1 tag
“There is not one [wise man] who, if he chanced to discover the difference...”
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Emile)
Disclaimer
Terms of Use Agreement
August 15, 2009
This Terms of Use Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into by and between Matthew DiPaola, M.D. (the “Author”) and “you,” the user of this web blog, also known as the “KevinMD.com - Medical Weblog” (the “Site”). Access to, use of and/or browsing of the Site is provided subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein. By accessing, using and/or...