5 things: The healthcare reform discussion that won’t die

One thing that I like about LinkedIn discussions is that people make more of an […]

One thing that I like about LinkedIn discussions is that people make more of an effort to be civil. The back and forth on that site tends to prove the theory that forcing people to use a real name and identity on the Internet discourages trolls.

We first wrote about Anthony Wunsh’s quest to have a rational conversation about the five vital elements of healthcare reform back in May.

Deanna identified these top 5 recommendations:

  • More accessible and portable patient data
  • Incentives for low-cost users
  • Tort reform
  • Prevention
  • Aligned incentives

I like these less popular but just as compelling ideas:

From Wesley W. Woods: Improved measurement of how much it costs to treat patients

From Dr. Bruce Shannahoff, D.C.: 1.) The conversation needs to include more than who pays for what and who gets healthcare. The nation needs to understand that healthcare is a national security issue. It is currently 17% of the GDP and that is not likely to change much no matter how it is paid for. There needs to be a massive educational program bringing a sense of patriotism to keeping ourselves, individually, healthy. Half the country on dialysis because of type II diabetes will destroy us before any outside threats. And, any medical/pharmacological solution would end up bankrupting us.

From Barbara O’Brien: One medical electronic record with one gatekeeper. Many PP do not take on this role and know their patients history, medicines, treatments by all practitioners, and coordination of care. Medications sometimes are doing more harm than good because of lack of coordination and documentation system.

From Scott Watson: Take providers off defense and put them on offense to care for their patients.

From Steven McPherson: If the MD and Hospital says grandma (who is ridden with cancer, is septic, with MO failure) has no survival rate, and the family insist on everything being done–then they pay out of their pocket for it.

From LaRae Burkman MBA , CMPE: Same fee schedule regardless of locality.

A month ago Wunsh counted 1,500 individual recommendations and said he was compiling a report on the entire discussions. Even today there is some back and forth on the thread.

Another chance to join the debate is “What are the three top factors driving innovation in healthcare today?” It is just getting started and can’t compete with the Physician/Administrator divide discussion with its 605 posts, though. Arundhati read through the discussion (so you don’t have to) and highlighted the best points here.

Veronica Combs

Veronica is an independent journalist and communications strategist. For more than 10 years, she has covered health and healthcare with a focus on innovation and patient engagement. Most recently she managed strategic partnerships and communications for AIR Louisville, a digital health project focused on asthma. The team recruited 7 employer partners, enrolled 1,100 participants and collected more than 250,000 data points about rescue inhaler use. Veronica has worked for startups for almost 20 years doing everything from launching blogs, newsletters and patient communities to recruiting speakers, moderating panel conversations and developing new products. You can reach her on Twitter @vmcombs.

Shares0
Shares0