Ethics Category
Providers Firing Patients
The June 10th health section of the New York Times caught my eye with an interesting piece describing a pediatrician’s difficult decision to “fire” a patient because of the poor relationship between the provider and the patient’s mother. Clearly not a daily occurrence in the healthcare world, but it does happen and we all know many patients that have switched “fired” their own doctors and have obtained new ones.
States bribed by CMS to turn away Emergency Department Patients.
Bribing healthcare organizations to screen patients presenting to an emergency department is not the way to control healthcare costs. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is doing just that though. As part of a multi-million dollar incentive to the states it wants to divert patients with “non-emergency” medical problems away from local emergency departments and point them to other resources within the community. The goal is to decrease the cost associated with seeking care in that emergency department. This care is typically more expensive than care provided by clinics or a primary care provider.
Healthcare: Right or Privilege, another look.
I have raised the question on my own blog site Healthcare Today whether healthcare itself is a privilege or a right; citizenship and immigration issues aside. After reviewing the bill of rights I was unable to determine if there was any clear mention of such related topics and I wasn’t able to find any reference. Clearly the founders had many other issues of more importance on their plates at the time. The only small mention that perhaps one could tie into healthcare was from the Declaration of Independence …that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…;hardly a strong case for the right of healthcare for all.
The Cost of Life: Shall we start the bidding at $……., Do I hear $…..
Perusing the abyssal of medial bogs this morning I came across yet another winning accolade for healthcare that involves a young man [17 year old Nick Colombo] who lives in the Los Angeles area that is fighting a battle with metastatic cancer. His insurance provider Pacific Care had initially denied his claim for advanced radiation treatment it appears due to the cost of the therapy – some $100,000.00. Family and friends were predictably outraged and disappointed.
