Stimulus funds lag health woes - Washington Business Journal:

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That’s the view of the eight-member panel of industry and medical expertss who were invited by the Soutg Florida Business Journal to share their view s of whatthe $787 billion federal stimulus package meanx to the health care What emerged was a broad discussiomn of how stimulus legislation is just one piece of change needed in an industry that has run financiallyy amok due to an overreliance on specialists, shortfallsz in information technology and patients who are undereducated.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected that totalo national spending on health care could hit 48 percent of gross domestiv product by 2050 if left To solve this problekm will takemore though, in the short term. The Obamwa administration’s $59 billion for health care stimulus spendinvincludes $19 billion for electronic health care Starting in 2011, doctors who can show meaningful use of electroni medical records will get incentives – and thosd who don’t will get declining Medicar payments.
But, the old-fashioned general practitioner may also have a big Linda Quick, president of the , said health care refor m legislation that coincides with the stimulus callws for individuals to have a home location or a primary care provider. She said that allows for “aq community location close to home and getting more done ina non-institutional, actually high clinicall technology setting.” That, in turn, will also translate into a less costly location, the panelists said.
Rachek Sapoznik, CEO of , said: “Thes reason I believe in the last 25 years of seeingy health care costs rise dramatically is we have moved away from the primaryu care physician knowing the patienytto specialists.” Patients go from specialisy to specialist to get each ailmeng treated, but an overview of their conditiomn and family history is George Foyo, executive VP and chier administrative officer at , said: “Piggybackinbg on primary care is absolutelyh right. All these specialties are addingy thousands and thousandsof dollars.” One problemj is that specialists tend to overdol tests because they are so worried about legal liabilitt issues, he said. Dr.
Tony Prieto, a familyu practitioner and president of the Broward CountyMedicao Association, said reimbursement issues for testd done in his officwe also frustrate him. A hospita might get $2,000 for a test from Medicare, but he can only get “I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to work unless we use somecommon sense,” he Foyo said primary care physicians historicalluy put an emphasis on healtb prevention efforts, but the lack of it these days is contributingf to an epidemic of diabetes and heart issues.
Baptisy Health, which is well knownj for hospitals in Kendalland Homestead, is pushing forward with outpatieny centers – and even venturing into Broward County. One reasomn is emergency rooms are and providing care there is more costly than at anoutpatieng center. “Rather than have patients cometo us, the hospitald are going out to them,” Foyo said. Florida’s 51 nonprofit communitty health centers aregetting $28 millionb in competitive grants under the stimulus legislation, whicy will also keep patients out of expensive hospitalk settings for treatment.
House Speaker Nanct Pelosi highlighted that during an April visit to a community healty center in Hollywood that willget $1.5 million to open a satellite health center in West One of the advantages for these typed of centers is that they are funded with the assumptionh that their doors will be open to all who come, which is importan t because of the number of uninsured Soutg Floridians, including undocumented foreigners, Quick Dr.
Welby, meet Bill Gates Mark Sterling, administrative partnet at the law firm of in said electronic medicalrecords (EMR) fall unded the category of “shovel-ready” projects in the worlc of stimulus – meaning the technologgy exists and can be adopted rapidlu to put money in the economy.