There's a must read in today's (7/17/2009) WSJ:
Budget Blow for Health Plan
Congress's Chief Fiscal Watchdog (CBO) Warns of Overhaul's Cost; Ammunition for Criticshttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB124775966602252285.htmlAs usual, the Comments tab is as important as the article. The premise stated is that the core healthcare problems and solution that preceed "the two main objectives (of policy) are: - expand access to health insurance, and - curb runaway costs, not just for the government, but the economy as a whole." Going back to Neal Ganguly's " What's a community hospital CIO to do?" post, the shared HCIT vision must clearly address costs. And must do so in a way that's both plausible and transparent for the CBO. For example, reducing non-value-add redundant procedures, and waste due to lack of care coordination. Regular readers of these blogs understand, and have seen the data that indicate, we can reduce wasteful spending associated with poorly coordinated care. See my Leap of Faith post for a recent example that CMS agrees with, i.e. addressing readmissions will help control healthcare costs. Similarly, better communication between care providers and patients is another large HCIT opportunity. This translates into fewer duplicated services, which drives down the costs generated. This can be measured today and going forward with episode grouping of services. Neal is right. We need to up our game in communicating a cogent, shared HCIT vision. Otherwise, the arguments laid out in the CBO analysis (today's WSJ article) will ultimately document how we failed to advocate for rational HCIT.
Congress's Chief Fiscal Watchdog (CBO) Warns of Overhaul's Cost; Ammunition for Criticshttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB124775966602252285.htmlAs usual, the Comments tab is as important as the article. The premise stated is that the core healthcare problems and solution that preceed "the two main objectives (of policy) are: - expand access to health insurance, and - curb runaway costs, not just for the government, but the economy as a whole." Going back to Neal Ganguly's " What's a community hospital CIO to do?" post, the shared HCIT vision must clearly address costs. And must do so in a way that's both plausible and transparent for the CBO. For example, reducing non-value-add redundant procedures, and waste due to lack of care coordination. Regular readers of these blogs understand, and have seen the data that indicate, we can reduce wasteful spending associated with poorly coordinated care. See my Leap of Faith post for a recent example that CMS agrees with, i.e. addressing readmissions will help control healthcare costs. Similarly, better communication between care providers and patients is another large HCIT opportunity. This translates into fewer duplicated services, which drives down the costs generated. This can be measured today and going forward with episode grouping of services. Neal is right. We need to up our game in communicating a cogent, shared HCIT vision. Otherwise, the arguments laid out in the CBO analysis (today's WSJ article) will ultimately document how we failed to advocate for rational HCIT.
