Tag Archives: colonoscopy

Health Alerts

Americans Get More Mammograms, Colonoscopies, etc. than Europeans

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We don’t get a little bit more. We get a whole lot more. But first things first.

If you are like me you probably have noticed a claim being repeated over and over again, like a steady drumbeat: that Americans spend more, but get less care. The latest, from the Commonwealth Fund (CWF), is published in Health Affairs. According to the journal’s press release:

American doctors are significantly behind many of their counterparts elsewhere in providing access to high-quality care and use of health information technology.

According to CWF, U.S. physicians are worse than those other developed countries at providing after-hours care — leaving no choice but the emergency room. Far more than in other countries, U.S. patients have difficulty paying for medications and care and U.S. doctors are more likely to be hampered by insurance coverage restrictions.

“Our weak primary care system puts patients at risk and results in poor health outcomes and higher costs,” CWF president Karen Davis told Reuters. Other countries have solved problems the United States is still struggling to conquer, she said. “U.S. primary care lags behind care in other countries on key measures,” said a Health Affairs press announcement.

All this had me in a real funk until I discovered through my own prying — and without the aid of any press release — an article in THE VERY SAME JOURNAL that reported on the care actual patients actually receive. You can’t imagine how surprised I was.

Continue reading Americans Get More Mammograms, Colonoscopies, etc. than Europeans →

Physicians

What the Patient Wants is….. Well….. Irrelevant

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Desperate to prevent medical costs from engulfing the federal budget, the program's central planners decided last week to deny payment for a new version of one of life's most unpleasant routine procedures, the colonoscopy.

At issue are "virtual colonoscopies," or CT scans of the abdomen. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of U.S. cancer death but one of the most preventable. Found early, the cure rate is 93%, but only 8% at later stages. Virtual colonoscopies are likely to boost screenings because they are quicker, more comfortable and significantly cheaper than the standard "optical" procedure, which involves anesthesia and threading an endoscope through the lower intestine.

Interesting Links

Hits & Misses – 2009/4/21

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Thousands of veterans put at risk by contaminated colonoscopy equipment (one has HIV; seven have Hepatitis C) at Miami VA hospital. System held as a model for the country by Paul Krugman and others.

Blue Cross study: People who choose high deductible plans are more savvy about controlling costs. They choose generics over brand name drugs and take better care of their health.

Poor and elderly Minnesotans on government health plans get worse care than those with private coverage. Even when treated at the same clinics by the same doctors.

Safeway employees with unhealthy behaviors pay 51% more for their health insurance. Employees must submit to an annual cheek swab to prove they are not smoking, have their cholesterol and blood pressure measured and be weighed yearly.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-idDbIfGvw 

“As time goes by so slowly”

Medicare

How Comparative Effectiveness Works in Medicare

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This is from an editorial in the New York Times:

Medicare has proposed not to pay for so-called virtual colonoscopies because there is not enough evidence that they would benefit people aged 65 and older. That may be disappointing for older Americans who would prefer a virtual exam to a real one. But those sort of judgments will be fundamental to any successful health care reform effort.

Lest I mislead, I'm not against Medicare making these decisions. As a taxpayer, I have a self interest in not seeing money wasted. What I'm against is a monopoly health insurer, which gives patients and doctors no alternatives.