Tag: Consumerism

Nothing About Me Without Me: Participatory Medicine, Meaningful Use and the American Hospital Association

David Harlow

Posted 5/6/12 on Health Blawg

Meaningful Use Stage 2 regulations were released in March by CMS and ONC.  Over the past month or so, I’ve been working with other members of the Society for Participatory Medicine (thank you, all) to prepare comments on these regulations from the patient perspective.  Last Friday, we filed two comment letters on the proposed regulations. One letter to the ONC on Meaningful Use Stage 2, and one letter to CMS on Meaningful Use Stage 2. Each letter opens like this:

Continue reading “Nothing About Me Without Me: Participatory Medicine, Meaningful Use and the American Hospital Association” →

A Doctor’s Appointment on your Phone: Out of Beta and Into Your Pocket

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn

Posted 5/1/12 on Health Populi

You can now carry a doctor with you in your pocket. Two top telehealth companies that support online physician-patient visits have gone mobile. This upgrade was announced this week at the 2012 American Telemedicine Association conference, being held in San Jose, CA.

Continue reading “A Doctor’s Appointment on your Phone: Out of Beta and Into Your Pocket” →

More Information Is Not Always Better: Pulling Consumers Into Active Choices About Testing

Wendy Lynch

Posted 5/01/12 on the Altarum Institute’s Health Policy Forum

“I’m thinking of getting a full-body CT scan,” Jane said. “What do you think?” Here was a healthy, active 72-year-old with no specific symptoms considering an expensive screening test. When asked for a reason, she shared that strokes run in her family and a doctor told her that she might be able to see if there was a possible bulge in a blood vessel in her brain. Plus, while they were looking, the scan could see if there was some other problem.

When asked how it would affect her to know – do you think you would consider brain surgery if there was a problem? (probably not); what might you do differently if you knew? (I don’t know); do you know whether a bulge in her vessel would definitely cause a stroke? (not necessarily); she hadn’t really gone that far. She just thought she should know.

Continue reading “More Information Is Not Always Better: Pulling Consumers Into Active Choices About Testing” →

How Much Does It Cost To Have An Appendectomy?

Kenneth Lin

Posted 4/24/12 on Common Sense Family Doctor

A few years ago, a good friend of mine who holds bachelor’s and law degrees from Ivy League schools lost his job and became one of the estimated 50 million medically uninsured persons in the U.S. Over the course of several days, he developed increasingly severe abdominal pain, fever, and vomiting. Though reluctant to seek medical attention, he finally was persuaded to visit his local hospital’s emergency department, where he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. Despite his critical condition and the need for immediate surgery, he refused treatment until the hospital’s billing department gave him an estimate of how much an emergency appendectomy would cost. Then, as he was being prepared for the operating room, he somehow managed to bargain with the surgeon to reduce his customary fees.
Continue reading “How Much Does It Cost To Have An Appendectomy?” →

Are Consumers Ready To Transform Health Care? If Not Now, When?

Wendy Lynch

Posted 1/26/12 on the Altarum Institute’s Health Policy Forum

There is a massive untapped resource in health care: consumers. Like a sleeping giant, unaware of its size and power, consumers have yet to realize what effect they could have on the system simply by asking questions or making choices. It’s not certain when, or if, consumers will awaken.

Consider this finding from our recent online survey of consumer opinions (1). The survey asked a national sample of about 3,000 employed individuals about where they get health information and how they use it. Only half of all respondents ever remember a doctor offering them multiple treatment options from which they could choose. Let’s remember the evidence: individuals who participate in medical decisions have better outcomes, better recovery, lower costs and higher satisfaction than those who don’t (2). Against this backdrop combined with national agencies promoting shared decision making with their “Questions are the Answer” campaign (3), and the new Physician Ethics Manual (4) insisting that the patient should be the primary decision maker about options, this answer is disturbing. But not surprising.

Continue reading “Are Consumers Ready To Transform Health Care? If Not Now, When?” →

Direct Access to Lab Results: Helpful or Harmful

Patricia Salber

Posted 12/19/11 on The Doctor Weighs In

I am a big fan of DIY (do-it-yourself) healthcare, at least for the bulk relatively minor issues that plague people.  I think the days when doctors were needed to control, interpret and dole out health data and information are waning.  There are simply too many ways, primarily via the internet, to get good, reliable, easy-to-understand information about our own health.

The Quantified Self (QS)people who use sensors, mobile apps, and other devices to collect data on themselves may be taking it to what some would consider extreme, but I think it is the wave of the future.

Continue reading “Direct Access to Lab Results: Helpful or Harmful” →

The Great Finesse in Health Reform- Changing The Language

Richard Reece

Posted 10/13/11 on MedInnovations Blog

One man’s words are another man’s poison.

Anonymous

We were reasonably calculating in our approach. We consciously began using the language of the marketplace, rather than the language of medicine. We began talking in terms of “providers and consumers” instead of “doctors and patients,” for example. This, of course, was and still is highly offensive to many people in medicine, and we felt the old language was almost like the language of religion, and, thus, harder to use when trying to affect widespread change.

Paul Ellwood, MD, 1985, “Life on the Cutting Edge,“ Twin Cities Magazine, 1985

1n 1988 in Who Shall Care for The Sick: The Corporate Transformation of Medicine in Minnesota, I said that words matter in health reform, that use of “providers and consumers” signaled a transformation in American medicine, and that these words a “Grand Finesse” of American physicians, effectively distracting them from what was really happening.

I predicted physicians would become serfs of payers, physicians would be disillusioned , and ultimately, a doctor shortage would ensue.

Continue reading “The Great Finesse in Health Reform- Changing The Language” →

America’s New Normal in Health: Paying Attention and Responding To Costs

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn

Posted 10/10/11 on Health Populi

The passage of health reform in the U.S. has not enhanced peoples’ confidence in the American health system. In fact, U.S. health consumers’ high confidence level in the future of employer-sponsored health benefits has eroded over the past ten years, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute‘s (EBRI) 2011 Health Confidence Survey: Most Americans Unfamiliar with Key Aspect of Health Reform. Most people are dissatisfied with the U.S. health system overall, with 27% of U.S. adults rating the system as “poor” and 29% giving a rating of “fair.” High costs may be at the root of peoples’ dissatisfaction with the U.S. health system. Only 18% of people are satisfied with the cost of health insurance; only 15% satisfied with the cost of health services not covered by insurance. EBRI looked into peoples’ health-consumer behaviors, detailed in the chart. Most people who have visited doctors ask them to explain why a test is needed, as well as inquire about risks of treatments and medications and their success rates. Nearly one-half of people ask about less costly treatment options often or always. Consumers also adjust their health care utilization when facing higher health care costs:

  • 74% of U.S. adults try to take better care of themselves
  • 69% choose generic drugs when available
  • 64% talk to the doctor more carefully about treatment options and costs
  • 59% go to the doctor only for more serious conditions or symptoms
  • 44% delay going to the doctor
  • 36% switch to over-the-counter (OTC) drugs
  • 34% look for cheaper health insurance
  • 31% look for cheaper health providers
  • 25% skip medication doses or don’t fill prescriptions.

Continue reading “America’s New Normal in Health: Paying Attention and Responding To Costs” →

The Edelman Health Barometer: Health Care is a Team Sport

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn

First posted 10/06/11 on Health Populi

Lifestyle, nutrition, the environment and the health system are four key factors that people globally say have the most impact on their health. Underlying these influences, its friends and family who most shape our health, followed by government and business.

Welcome to the 2011 Edelman Health Barometer, the third year the communications firm has polled health citizens around the world on their views on health, behavior change, and the use of information and digital tools.

Continue reading “The Edelman Health Barometer: Health Care is a Team Sport” →

Note to Consumers: the Rules in Health Care are a Little Different

Wendy Lynch

First posted 9/28/11 on the HHCF Blog

Let’s say you’ve invented a new product. Before you can sell it, you need to figure out its price such that you maximize revenue without pricing it higher than your customers will pay.  If it costs more than similar products, you’ll need to figure out how to convince people to pay more for your product than they might elsewhere.  This is how healthy, rational consumer markets work, promoting innovation that balances cost and quality. To contrast, now imagine you’ve invented a new product in healthcare. Guess what?  You get to set the price without worrying what cost consumers will tolerate because they won’t be paying for it directly, and it doesn’t need to reflect how well the product works!

Why Advocate For Consumer Choice in Health Care?

Wendy Lynch

First posted 9/27/11 on the Altarum Institute Health Policy Forum

There is no shortage of important topics in health care; the U.S. faces thousands of challenges, from the prevalence of childhood obesity and hospital infection rates, to the affordability of new specialty medicines and end-of-life care.  Our delivery system is far more expensive and far less safe and effective than it could be.  Providers deliver care of ever-increasing complexity within brief, often-rushed encounters, leaving limited time for dialog.  So, why invest resources and attention on an individual’s preferences about treatment?

The answer is simple: consumer involvement in care decisions results in safer, more effective, and less expensive health care. (1, 2, 3) Additionally, consumers who participate in care decisions report higher satisfaction, faster recovery from illness and better quality of life. (4, 5) Finally, care plans resulting from a shared-decision-making process result in better medication adherence and clinical outcomes. (6, 7, 8)

Continue reading “Why Advocate For Consumer Choice in Health Care?” →

Healthcare Associated Infections: What Is The Message, and What Can We Do About Them?

David Harlow

First posted 7/8/11 on Health Blawg

The good people at GE and JESS3 have come up with an HAI infographic.  It’s pretty, and it conveys the horrible information that many of us already know — healthcare associated infections kill about 100,000 people a year, and add $35 billion a year to our collective health care bill (here in the US of A); 5% of hospital inpatients end up with an HAI.

Continue reading “Healthcare Associated Infections: What Is The Message, and What Can We Do About Them?” →

Informed Choices: A Critical Responsibility for Health Care Consumers

Wendy Lynch

First posted 6/07/11 on the Altarum Institute’s Health Policy Forum

Did you know that doctors make different treatment choices for themselves than they recommend to their patients? A recent study found that doctors are more likely to take on the risk of death to avoid serious complications than they recommend to patients. (1)

Here’s an example question from the study: To treat or not to treat Avian flu? Two-thirds of doctors said they would rather take a 10 percent chance of dying of Avian Flu than a 6 percent chance of death and 4 percent chance of paralysis from the treatment. Yet, more than half would recommend the treatment for their patients. Knowing what they know, understanding what they might face, considering whether or not they might get sued, doctors make different choices for patients than for themselves.

Continue reading “Informed Choices: A Critical Responsibility for Health Care Consumers” →

In Health Care, Why It Is Best That We Choose for Ourselves

Wendy Lynch

First posted 6/23/11 on the HHCF Blog

Faced with a difficult medical situation, it is not uncommon for patients to ask doctors for advice.  But asking, “Doctor, what should I do?” is a very different question than, “Doctor, can you help me understand and weigh my options?” It may sound like semantics, but your involvement and participation in making personal health decisions can make a difference in your recovery.

A recent study showed that patients who make their own choices report better recovery than those for whom choices were made by doctors (1).  Regardless of WHAT choice was made, the patients who did their own choosing reported better physical and psychological outcomes; active choice-making had its own healing power.  It may also protect us from unwanted consequences.

Continue reading “In Health Care, Why It Is Best That We Choose for Ourselves” →

DIY Health Care Could Saving Consumers $5 Billion

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn

First published 6/21/11 on Health Populi

Health care costs in the U.S. exceeded $2.3 trillion in 2008. That year, there were nearly 1 billion visits to see physicians in offices, millions of which physicians believe were avoidable or unnecessary were patients to engage in more self-management of their health and use of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. How much money would be conserved in health spending if those 10% of visits were avoided and managed at home? Over $5 billion worth, according to calculations from the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA).

CHPA’s report and survey, Your Health At Hand: Perceptions of over-the-counter medicine in the U.S., details a survey conducted among U.S. adults and physicians exploring their views on DIY health care for patients.

Continue reading “DIY Health Care Could Saving Consumers $5 Billion” →