Don Ammon
The drug shortage problem at numerous hospitals across the country is the worst that many in healthcare have experienced in recent years.
The patient - doctor relationship is one that is so important for optimal health outcomes. In the ideal world, it is really meant to be a "partnership" but in many cases, a patient's behavior can get in the way of their own care.
It has been nearly one year since President Obama signed healthcare reform into law, and it appears many people are more confused and stressed about the future of healthcare than when we first started down this path.
A recent report by ProPublica shines a light on the continuing problem of doctors being paid by pharmaceutical companies to help promote their products.
In the early '70s, '80s and '90s we worked on a concept similar to accountable care organizations (ACOs) in California. We tried to establish a program that would cover risk for our patients' care with a lot of enthusiasm and effort. But unfortunately, we had very little success.
Many Americans are confused about what the new healthcare law really means. When and how do they sign up for high risk insurance pools? Parents want specifics about how they can keep their kids on their health insurance plans. People are trying to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the new law.
President Obama is expected to nominate Donald Berwick, MD, to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). I have worked with him on several occasions during my time as CEO of Adventist Health System West and feel he would be an excellent choice to lead CMS.
As a retired healthcare leader, I find the current proposal by Anthem Blue Cross to raise rates in California by 39 percent for some 700,000 subscribers quite unbelievable.
Do you ever get the feeling that members of Congress are so determined to pass healthcare reform that they don’t care what it looks like or if it will work, they just want to get it signed and move on?
The California Hospital Association estimates that the House reform bill that recently passed will result in a reduction in Medicare and Medicaid payments to California hospitals to the tune of $18.8 billion over the next 10 years.