Health Care and the Supply Chain: Ten Steps to Reduce the Cost of Health Care Right Now
Published: 2009-08-25 11:37:35
Author: Lynn James Everard | Spend Matters | July 28, 2009
While we wait to see what Washington will do for us or to us on the health care front there are a number of things that could be done right now to reduce the cost of health care:
1.Medical Malpractice Reform- Tests are expensive to begin with but add in more tests based solely on the practice of defensive medicine by physicians seeking to avoid lawsuits and the cost goes off the charts.
2. Unnecessary Paperwork- A recent study in Health Affairs reported that physicians spend an average of $85,276 per year processing medical billing. We need to virtually eliminate paper claims processing.
3. Medicare Fraud - Fraud is expensive but until we make it more difficult to perpetrate it will continue to bleed our dollars.
4. EMR- Electronic Medical Records are an absolute must. This will cost money but can reduce paperwork and errors and make it possible to knowledgeably treat patients almost anywhere in the U.S.
5. Rethinking Preventative Medicine- We need to be focused on preventing disease not preventing care. Patients need access to medical professionals to guide their health decision making.
6. Corporate Wellness Financial Incentives- Create a system of wellness benchmarking that rewards efforts toward wellness but does not punish employees or companies for genetic inherited conditions or predispositions on the part of employees.
Full story
Published: 2009-08-25 11:37:35
Author: Lynn James Everard | Spend Matters | July 28, 2009
While we wait to see what Washington will do for us or to us on the health care front there are a number of things that could be done right now to reduce the cost of health care:
1.Medical Malpractice Reform- Tests are expensive to begin with but add in more tests based solely on the practice of defensive medicine by physicians seeking to avoid lawsuits and the cost goes off the charts.
2. Unnecessary Paperwork- A recent study in Health Affairs reported that physicians spend an average of $85,276 per year processing medical billing. We need to virtually eliminate paper claims processing.
3. Medicare Fraud - Fraud is expensive but until we make it more difficult to perpetrate it will continue to bleed our dollars.
4. EMR- Electronic Medical Records are an absolute must. This will cost money but can reduce paperwork and errors and make it possible to knowledgeably treat patients almost anywhere in the U.S.
5. Rethinking Preventative Medicine- We need to be focused on preventing disease not preventing care. Patients need access to medical professionals to guide their health decision making.
6. Corporate Wellness Financial Incentives- Create a system of wellness benchmarking that rewards efforts toward wellness but does not punish employees or companies for genetic inherited conditions or predispositions on the part of employees.
Full story