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Obama Pharma Deal - A Surprising Political Alliance
2009-08-11 23:35:00
A promise by the pharmaceutical industry to save the nation $80 billion over a decade in exchange for protection from further givebacks under health care reform pending in Congress was confirmed recently by the White House. Apparently, the pharmaceutical companies got spooked by action in the House that would give the feds negotiating authority for drug prices and bigger rebates from the industry. So the industry got an explicit affirmation of protection from deeper cuts. The trade group PhRMA explained the quid pro quo -- drugmakers stepped up first with a cost-saving pledge, and, in return, got "a rock-solid deal" not to make further cuts in prescription drug prices beyond the $80 billion. The White House confirmed the deal. Neither party mentioned what is apparently a side deal - drug companies will bankroll a TV ad campaign in support of health care reform. The ads would bolster the administration's plans to remake health care and expand insurance coverage to nearly 50 milli...
More About: Political , Obama , Pharma , Deal , Alliance

Nurses on drugs. How many patients have suffered?
2009-07-28 05:59:00
Would it surprise anyone to learn that drug use is widespread among hospital employees? I think not. There is even a new TV show called Nurse Jackie, whose main character played by Edie Falco, is clearly addicted to prescription drugs and trades sex for drugs with the hospital pharmacist. The creators of the show have made the Nurse Jackie character the most competent person in the show's fictional hospital. That's all well and good when it comes to creating an edgy adult TV drama, but not in the real world. Real addicts are only competent in their own minds. Meet Nurse Melony. According to a recent Los Angeles Times article exposing the failure of the California Nursing Board Drug Diversion Program to protect us from nurses on drugs, Nurse Melony Currier is a poster child for nurses on drugs. In one episode, Nurse Melony passed out in her car the morning of her second day on a new job at Starpoint Surgery Center in Studio City, California. Once awakened, she was escorted to a ...
More About: Drugs , Hospitals , Patients , Nurses

Insulin Infusion Pump: How to Get Your Insurance to Pay
2009-07-15 01:46:00
An external insulin infusion pump is an FDA approved mechanical device used to deliver insulin to manage diabetes mellitus. The pump is about the size of a deck of cards, weighs about 3 ounces, and can be worn on a belt or in a pocket. It contains a cartridge reservoir filled with fast acting insulin. The pump connects to narrow flexible plastic tubing that ends with a needle inserted just under the skin near the abdomen. Users set the pump to give a steady trickle or "basal" amount of insulin continuously throughout the day. Pump s also release additional ("bolus") doses of insulin at meals and at times when blood sugar is too high based on user input. Frequent blood glucose monitoring is essential to determine insulin dosages and to ensure that insulin is delivered appropriately. Private insurance companies as well as Medicare will pay for infusion pumps as medically necessary for patients with documented diabetes mellitus meeting all the following criteria: Has been seen by t...
More About: Insurance , Infusion

Medical Bankruptcy: Who's Responsible?
2009-07-07 00:29:00
I think medical bankruptcy is more a reflection of middle-class financial immaturity than it is an indictment of our health care system. OK Calm down for a minute. Hear me out. According to the popular media, middle-class American families, most with private health insurance, are being forced into bankruptcy because of their medical bills. "Insured, but Bankrupted by Health Crises" writes the NY Times. There have been scores of stories like this in the past month based on the Himmelstein, Harvard University study. The story alarms us because most of us consider ourselves to be middle-class and most of us have health insurance. We thought we were protected from medical catastrophe. Many supporters of a single-payer government health plan say this story supports their case for government health insurance. The following story is fictional, but conforms to the statistical facts of the Harvard study. A year ago John and his wife, Ronnie, earned a combined $85,000 yearly. Living in hig...
More About: Medical , Bankruptcy

My Friend Bill, a Medical Marijuana Patient
2009-06-26 17:49:00
My friend, Bill is dying of cancer. He probably has two or three days left. He's not conscious and while the caretakers say that he can recognize my voice, I doubt it. He's being given a lot of drugs including morphine, but they don't seem to give him peace. His body struggles as if he is trying to free himself from unseen restraints. Perhaps he's pain-free, but he definitely does not seem comfortable. However, I was able to say goodbye to Bill with a smile on my face because of something his wife told me a few minutes earlier. She said, "Bill spent the last five days of his conscious life smoking pot." Now, if you knew Bill you'd know how utterly preposterous that statement sounds. Bill was a retired Pediatric Cardiologist. He voted Republican all his life until he voted for Obama. He did not waste money or words. And he definitely had never smoked marijuana. Some weeks back, Bill's internist suggested that he consider medical marijuana as a way to restore his appetite whi...
More About: Medical , Friend , Marijuana , Patient

Health Care in the U.S. Will Become a 2 Tier System
2009-06-10 01:55:00
We are beginning to see a two tiered system of health care delivery in America - the publicly insured and the privately insured. Medicare is single payer public insurance. Virtually every American age 65 or over is covered by Medicare. as a result Medicare has way more bargaining power to negotiate fees for medical services than any private insurance company. Those of you on Medicare have probably been shocked to see how little Medicare pays doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers. It's not unusual to see Medicare pay only 10% of the providers' bill, leaving them to write off 90%. Most health care providers need Medicare patients for volume - pays the overhead, etc. So they are figuring out how to provide a lower level of service for Medicare patients - similar to creating products for lower price points. Second Rate Treatment I'll give you an example: Yesterday, I was treated at the Newport Beach Orthopedic Surgery Center for a procedure I've had several times ove...
More About: Health , System , Health Care , Care , Tier

Royal Pains - Concierge Medicine Gets the Hollywood Treatment
2009-05-29 22:16:00
ROYAL PAINS, New USA Series- 2 Min Preview - Click here for another funny movie. How does this sound? - 24/7 access to your doctor, same day office visits, no waiting, more face time, and house calls. Like a nostalgic picture of medicine practiced in small town America 50 years ago? Nope. It exists today for some Americans willing and able to pay. It's called Concierge Medicine . A new sitcom called Royal Pains, on the USA Network, will expose the medical concierge concept to the masses. Royal Pains' central character is Dr. Hank Lawson, a fictional ER doc who loses his job in a prominent New York hospital because he breaks rules to try to save a patient. While attending a ritzy party in the Hamptons, Hank brilliantly diagnoses the medical condition of one of the wealthy guests and provides lifesaving treatment on the spot. Overnight, he becomes the most sought after doc in the Hamptons social set. Unheard of 10 years ago, concierge medical practices have grown to about 5,000 ...
More About: Hollywood , Treatment

Childbirth Medicine Needs Reform
2009-05-21 23:58:00
Childbirth is an example of how the intensive and expensive U.S. brand of medicine has failed to deliver better results and may be doing more harm than good. As the number one cause of hospital admissions, childbirth accounts for more than $79 billion in hospital charges alone. Pregnancy is the most expensive condition for both private insurers and Medicaid. The financial toll of maternity care on private insurers (employers) and Medicaid (taxpayers) is huge. Maternity care therefore plays a considerable role in escalating healthcare costs, which increasingly threaten the financial stability of families, employers, and federal and state budgets. Cesareans Out of Control The cesarean rate in the U.S. is higher than in most other developed nations. And in spite of a standing government goal of reducing such deliveries, the U.S. has set a new record every year for more than a decade. Once reserved for cases in which the life of the baby or mother was in danger, the cesarean is now ...
More About: Women , Medicine , Reform

7 Ways to Pay Less for Hospital Care
2009-04-30 02:31:00
Yes. Your hospital bill is negotiable. What hospitals accept for payment is not set in stone. There's the hospital's list of charges and then there's what they actually collect. Hospital s are required to offer discounted or free care to patients who meet financial eligibility guidelines. And most will negotiate with any patient having difficulty paying their bill. It's best to have such discussions before care takes place. It can enable the hospital's billing office to help find some assistance, such as Medicaid, Medicare or private and hospital charity assistance if the patient is eligible. Uninsured patients have the right to negotiate even after hospital care has been given, with the best deals often offered to people who agree to share their financial information and show a willingness to start paying the bill. Here are 7 tips to help you save money on your hospital bill. 1. Let your doctor know your financial circumstances Get a full picture of what will be done during ...
More About: Care

4 Tips for a Speedy Post-Surgical Recovery
2009-04-22 20:59:00
I'm pretty sure none of us would volunteer to go under the surgeon's knife, unless it's for cosmetic surgery, of course. Unfortunately, surgery is a necessity for some of us if we want to stay in good health. Very often, it's not the operation that's a difficult experience but what comes after it. Unless you're undergoing a relatively minor procedure, recovery is a pretty slow and sometimes painful process. But if you follow the rehab program your doctors map out for you religiously, there's no reason why you shouldn't be on the road to normalcy soon enough. If you've just undergone a surgery or know someone who has, here are a few tips for a successful and speedy recovery: 1. Thinking makes it happen: It may sound magical, but it's true; it's all in your mind. So if you think you feel better, you actually will feel better. You must stay in a positive frame of mind and think about recovering step by step rather than worrying and obsessing over the aches and pains that a...
More About: Recovery , Tips , Post , Speedy

7 Ways to Buy Cheaper Drugs
2009-04-09 03:14:00
Hey people, wake up. When faced with the choice of buying groceries or your prescription medications, it's time to get smart. There are plenty of ways to save money on your drugs if you're willing to educate yourself and put in a little effort. You'll also have to learn about pharmaceuticals, know your health plan, become a savvy healthcare shopper. So, before you skip a dose, read on to learn 7 ways to score cheaper drugs. 1. Insist on Generics A generic drug is a pharmaceutical no longer under patent protection. An example of a generic drug, one used for diabetes, is metformin. A brand name for metformin is Glucophage. (Brand names are usually capitalized while generic names are not.) A generic drug, one used for hypertension, is metoprolol whereas a brand name for the same drug is Lopressor. Generics are sold over the counter or at low cost as a generic prescription. Generic drugs are copies of brand-name drugs that have exactly the same dosage, intended use, effects, side ...
More About: Drugs

10 Things You Need to Know About the Healthcare Stimulus
2009-03-28 00:24:00
Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed on February 17, and is already beginning to filter out funds to hopefully stimulate the economy. One of the principal goals of the package is to reform the health care system while creating jobs and insuring more Americans. Through measures to support the unemployed, integrate cutting-edge information technology systems into medical networks, and insuring more children, the act may in some way affect how you receive health care. Find out how. Health care industry set to go tech One of Obama's umbrella strategies for reforming health care and stimulating the economy involves pumping money into health care technology systems. He hopes to create a health information network for hospitals, rural and urban clinics, and other health care centers by making all medical records electronic; making existing medical technologies more accurate and effective; and reducing errors in medical care. This technology boost t...
More About: Healthcare , Things

7 Food Concerns You Can Stop Worrying About
2009-03-17 00:21:00
We hear a lot of advice about nutrition, some of it accurate, a lot of it not so much. Some of the nonsense causes us a good deal of discomfort in the form of guilt. Perhaps we feel "not good enough" because of our failure to live up to imagined standards of healthy eating. Here are 7 healthy food legends that you can stop worrying about. 1. Coffee is bad for you Coffee drinking, in moderation actually does your body's health far more good than harm. Coffee comes from plants, which have helpful phytochemicals that act as antioxidants. One set of antioxidants appears to increase insulin sensitivity, which might explain a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes in people who sip java. A Harvard study of more than 125,000 coffee drinkers found that women cut their risk of type 2 diabetes by 30 percent. Other studies suggest that coffee cuts the risks of Parkinson's disease, colon cancer, cirrhosis and gallstones. Drinking coffee gives your brain a boost, too. Two to three cups a day is the...
More About: Food , Stop , Concerns

6 More Childcare Beliefs Your Mother Was Wrong About
2009-03-06 01:12:00
Many of our age old beliefs about children's health have been shown to be untrue, but because we have heard them all of our lives, we continue to repeat these myths. Our children will benefit if we recognize these myths and don't pass them on to future generations. 1. No sugar. It makes you hyperactive. Sugar will not make your child hyperactive. What made your son bounce off the walls at the Halloween party then? Probably the party itself - with the added excitement and attention drawn by the child's acting out. Numerous studies have failed to find a relationship between sugar intake and hyperactivity. There are lots of good reasons for your child to cut back on sugar, but less sugar intake will not necessarily make your child calmer. 2. Stop slouching. You'll get scoliosis. Good posture will not prevent scoliosis. About 2 out of 100 children under the age of 16, (girls more than boys) are afflicted with scoliosis or curvature of the spine. In most cases, science provides no ...
More About: Children , Beliefs , Mother , Wrong , Childcare

5 Keys to Raising Young Children
2009-02-24 00:31:00
Raising young children is probably more art than science. While you may or may not have been blessed with the innate ability to be a great parent, you can learn good parenting skills. Realize that life as a toddler can be very frustrating. They can't get what they want on their own and when they can't do it themselves, they may communicate their frustration by throwing a tantrum or other misbehavior. Here are 5 keys to getting good behavior from your toddlers. 1. Head off tantrums before they begin If a tantrum breaks out, stay calm and try to distract your child. Don't worry about minor eruptions, but if your child is hitting, kicking, and screaming. You have to hold him or her close to you or if that doesn't work, try a short period of alone time (for the child that is). Recognize and avoid tantrum triggers. You should know if your child more often than not has tantrums in a certain setting, Avoid that place or situation if possible. If it's necessary to take her to a s...
More About: Health , Children , Young , Keys

8 Ways To Increase Your Brain Power
2009-02-18 04:24:00
This article gives you advice on how to boost your brain power and keep your brain in the best shape possible. 1. Exercise Getting cardiovascular exercise is one of the most important aspects to having a healthy brain. The main reason is that cardiovascular exercise increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain. There are other benefits to exercise, but it's of great benefit to the brain in particular. 2. Brain Activities We all fall into routines in which we aren't using our brains to learn anything new. This becomes more common as we get older and lose interest in new things. Unfortunately for some, their minds fall into such a rut that they develop attention deficit disorder or even worse - dementia. There are many ways to keep the brain active. Here are just a few of many: Reading, doing arithmetic in your head, memory exercises, learning a musical instrument, learning a foreign language, crossword puzzles, chess, games that require concentration, or any kinds of puzzle ga...
More About: Power

Good News: Health Care for the Unemployed
2009-02-11 00:51:00
President Obama's $789 Billion Recovery Bill includes some health care benefits for those recently unemployed. If you lost your job after September 1st, 2008, this bill has some very good news for you regarding your health care. The federal government will soon subsidize 60% of your COBRA premium for 9 months. Doesn't sound like a big deal to you? Let me explain. COBRA coverage is offered to individuals and their families who had group coverage with their employer before they lost their jobs. The problem is that COBRA insurance premiums are high and unemployment benefits are no so high. In fact, the average premium for family COBRA coverage exceeds the entire monthly unemployment benefit in 9 states: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and West Virginia. If you lost your job recently, you have 62 days to decide on taking the COBRA offer or not. TAKE IT. You'll have to pay the entire premium for a month or two, but once the new legislation ...
More About: News , Health , Health Care , Good News , Health Insurance

How I Became a Medical Marijuana Patient
2009-01-30 23:57:00
When I was in high school, I crashed doing an airwalk grab on the library steps. I have it on video. I smashed two vertebrae in my lower back. The surgery left me with metal in my back and an attitude. That was like eleven years ago. I have pain that can be crippling for a few days, sometimes it's not so bad. I have taken a lot pain killers including Oxycontin and Vicodin over the years. I like that stuff but it makes me drool and recite the alphabet non-stop. Mostly, I get by with an epidural injection every few months and daily doses of ibuprofen or naproxen. I smoke marijuana too. I find that marijuana doesn't block the pain much but it sure helps with my attitude. I've been depressed since the accident. I guess, I just can't accept that I''ll never be a world class skater and I'll always walk a little bit like my grandpa. I was prescribed Zoloft at first, then Wellbutrin for depression but marijuana works much better for me. Dude, I'm only 28. I want to have fun, have s...
More About: Medical , Marijuana , Patient

Hooked on Zyban Instead of Nicotine
2009-01-26 06:40:00
I really liked smoking. I started when I was 15 and smoked for over 13 years. Let me tell you, I'm one of those addictive personalities. Part of it is genetic, I'm sure. My father is a recovering alcoholic, sober over 20 years now. Most of women in my family are compulsive overeaters. If it feels good, I'll get hooked on it. A lot of my friends started smoking when I did, but some were just chippers - only smoked a few times a day, or could go days without smoking. My best girlfriend is still a chipper after smoking for 13 years. For me it was love a first puff. I was up to like a pack a day in no time. I would still be smoking if it weren't for my husband and my son. They just wouldn't let up - nagging and making me feel guilty, I finally gave up and quit about six months ago. That may have sounded easy - I quit smoking six months ago - but I had tried to stop many times. I tried nicotine gum and the patch, but I still felt really tense. I felt like I was walking a tightrope...
More About: Nicotine

Criminals and Pervs Among California Health Care Workers
2009-01-17 23:21:00
Kiyoshi Fukuda, a dentist from Santa Rosa, California , is a registered sex offender. He admitted to having sex with a child under 16 and even though he disclosed his status to the state licensing board his record remained "clean" on the bureau's website. Even Fukuda was surprised by that one. Over a third of California's 937,100 licensed healthcare workers have not been fingerprinted - a crucial step in vetting workers by checking criminal databases and intended to prevent rapists, drug addicts and others with rap sheets from becoming licensed to provide health care services. Incredibly, over three-quarters of psychiatric technicians; nearly half of family therapists, social workers and dentists; and 12 percent of physicians were not fingerprinted by their relevant licensing boards. Among them was Michael Marcus, a dentist from San Jose who was arrested in July 2005 after allegedly fondling a 17-year-old patient. He was charged with three misdemeanor charges of sexual batte...
More About: Health , Workers , Health Care , Care

CVS to Sell 400 Generic Drugs for $9.99 per 90-day Supply
2008-11-01 00:44:00
CVS Drugs tores, one of the largest national drugstore chains, announced it will sell 90-day supplies of more than 400 generic prescription drugs for $9.99. Wal-Mart started a similar program a few years ago. The $9.99 CVS offer is just a penny less than Wal-Mart's $10 charge for a 90-day supply. In order to get the $9.99 generic deal, customers must enroll in the program by paying an annual fee of $10. These cut rate prices are a relief for consumers from rising health insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket medical expenses. Insurers and employers are pushing generic substitutes to save costs. However, many drugs are still available only in expensive, patented formulations, and even where generic substitutes are available, they don't work for everybody. People wonder why those drugs are so expensive.
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Down Economy Impacts Health Care
2008-10-29 00:24:00
The economy has tanked. People are getting laid off. Bank accounts are shrinking. We fear that it will get worse. All this is causing people to demand low-cost generic drugs and split pills, forgo recommended screening tests and delay elective procedures, perhaps even turn to home remedies. The number of people who have gone without a prescription or skipped a doctor's appointment for themselves or a child has increased since last year. In addition, this summer saw the first decline in prescription drug spending in almost a decade. Almost 20% of U.S. residents say they have trouble paying medical bills. It's not just the uninsured who are affected. Even those who have group health insurance coverage are skimping because employers have raised their deductibles and copayments in order to cope with ever increasing insurance premiums. Increased out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare drive down utilization of health insurance benefits. Some that cutback in utilization is good because ...
More About: Economy , Health , Health Care , Care

Cost Plus Medical Billing Preys on the Uninsured
2008-09-09 00:32:00
I'm in the health insurance business, but I was recently blown away by the absurdity of the medical billing system. I have lower back pain from a condition called spondylolisthesis. That's basically a slippage of one of the vertebra in my lower back that pinches the nerves and causes sciatic pain. When the pain gets bad, I get an epidural injection that takes away my pain for a couple of months at a time. The outpatient surgical center billed $4,136 for the epidural procedure. My insurance company allowed only $1,039 of which I paid $208 for my coinsurance - just 5% of the amount originally billed. Why are medical bills so outrageously overpriced? Who pays the full "retail" bill? Not the insured. It's the uninsured who are stuck with these inflated medical bills. As individuals, they have very little negotiating power to reduce the initial bill to a reasonable fee and are left with no choice but to pay the inflated fee which can wipe them out financially. Medical administrato...
More About: Cost , Billing

Declining Mental Skills as Markers of Death in Old Age
2008-08-29 22:02:00
My mother is 89 years old and suffers from advanced dementia so I'm perhaps more interested than most of you in new information about the aging brain. Having said that, I find fascinating the results of a recently published study published in the August 27, 2008, online issue of Neurology® - the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study documents 30 years of testing of people's mental skills from age 70 to death. The study involved 288 people with no dementia who were followed from age 70 to death, with an average age at death of 84. The participants' mental skills were measured up to 12 times over a period of 30 years, and they were evaluated to make sure they had not developed dementia. "These changes are different and separate from the changes in thinking skills that occur as people get older," said study author Valgeir Thorvaldsson, MSc, of Goteberg University in Sweden. "We found accelerated changes in people's mental skills that indicated a termina...
More About: Mental , Death , Skills

The Uninsured Pay More and Get Less Medical Care than the Insured
2008-08-27 02:00:00
Americans without health insurance for any part of 2008 will spend $30 billion of their own money for medical care. Many cannot pay their own expenses and they rack up another $56 billion in medical expenses. Most of that amount - $43 billion - is paid by various state and federal government programs: $18 billion by Medicare and Medicaid, $15 billion by state and local government indigent programs, and $10 billion by the Veterans Administration. The uninsured that pay out of their pocket for medical care pay more overall and get a lot less care for their money. Someone who is uninsured all year pays 35 percent ($583) out of pocket toward their average annual medical costs of $1,686 per person. In contrast, annual medical costs of the privately insured average $3,915, with $681, or 17 percent, paid out of pocket.
More About: Medical , Health Insurance , Care

Prostate Screening No Longer Recommended for Men Over 75
2008-08-08 21:01:00
For years, the medical community has assumed that the early detection of prostate cancer by PSA testing improved health outcomes of all men tested. Now, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against routine cancer screening for men over 75. PSA tests do dectect the disease, but more harm than good can be done with treatment, starting with prostate biopsy and perhaps surgery and or radiation and chemotherapy. The recommendation is based on the fact that the average 75 year old American male will live less than 10 additional years and probably die of causes other than prostate cancer, So why risk the emotional and physical trauma of current treatment methods. Of course the decision to test or not is an individual one. For example, a 75 year old male in excellent health should live considerably longer than the average and will probably want to continue with PSA testing.
More About: Prostate , Screening

Retail Medical Clinic Operators Hit a Rough Patch
2008-05-14 20:32:00
Retail walk-in medical clinics in pharmacies are proving more difficult to establish than initially thought. The clinics are more complicated and expensive to operate. It seems, operators and investors were overly optimistic in their return on investment estimates. The clinics are experiencing an 18 to 24 month break-even rather than the initial projections of a six month break-even. Much of the added cost is in marketing to make the public aware the service exists in each market and to gain acceptance. While the pubilc likes the convenience of the walk-ins, it takes a lot of users to make it pay.
More About: Medical , Retail , Operators , Patch

Florida Health Reform Legislation Passed
2008-05-08 23:45:00
The state of Florida has passed health insurance legislation that will allow insurance carriers to offer bare-bones coverage for as little as $150 per month. Aimed at Florida?s 3.8 million uninsured residents, the plans would be exempt from existing state-mandated coverage requirements. For instance the plans would not be required to offer coverage for long-term hospitalizations or treatment from specialists, but would cover preventive care and office visits.
More About: Health , Reform , Legislation

Paternity Kits Available Over The Counter
2008-04-04 02:08:00
Consumers with a pressing need to validate the paternity of a child can now buy a DNA Collection Kit offered by a Utah-based genetics company called Identigene. Available over the counter at Rite-Aid stores in 30 states. You pay $22.99 for the kit and another $119 processing fee for the results. The kit has swabs to collect cell samples from the inner cheek of the child and the "alleged" father and consent forms. You get the results in the mail in 3 to 5 business days. Ethical concerns are plenty. Will samples be collected without consent while the alleged father sleeps? What if the samples are used to determine genetic conditions or diseases? What if mistakes are made? According to Identigene the test is 99.9% accurate, but is not legally binding because there is no verification that the samples are from the people listed on the forms sent to the lab. Identigene offers a legally valid test that costs $350 where consumers go to a collection site that oversees sample collection and...
More About: Children , Kits , Paternity , Counter

Shortage of Geriatric Physicians Grows
2008-03-13 23:08:00
The US doesn?t have enough Geratricians. Currently, there about 7,000 Geriatricians practicing in the US. And the shortage is getting worse, because our medical schools and teaching hospitals are training one or two geriatricians for every nine specialists in higher paying specialties like cardiology or orthopedic surgery, Geriatricians make less money because their patients are on Medicare and their services are reimbursed a lower rate than private insurance patients. Additionally, the treatment of the elderly is less attractive to young doctors selecting a specialty. Public relations programs to convince the public of the value of Geriatricians has not had much of an impact on the shortage. So medical schools are adding more courses on the treatment of the elderly for all doctors and some foundations are providing grants to fund those courses. Because there are too few Geriatricians, primary care doctors also need to receive extra training in the treatment of elderly patients a...
More About: Aging