Health reform without computerizing our health information is not a reform. Health IT saves lives and saves money. Here are some scenarios:

• You get sick suddenly and go to the nearest hospital for emergency treatment.

• You are in an accident and are unconscious and are taken to the nearest emergency services.

• You are traveling and get sick and have to go to a hospital away from your home.

• You are flying and get sick and the pilot has to make an emergency landing, not at your destination and not even in your State.

When you arrive in a hospital under these circumstances, what happens? The emergency room staff does not know you but will do everything they can to save your life. What if you need surgery and they want to thin your blood but you are already on blood thinning medication? What if you have a serious allergy to commonly used drugs? What if you already have lab test and radiology test results? What if you have a serious illness that requires immediate attention? On the other hand, what if you have a minor illness that does not require extensive prodding and extensive testing.

Here is what happens if your medical records can be accessed nationwide electronically:

• Instantly, emergency room staff will have the most important information about you. This could save your life.

• When they have the information they needed, they will not order extra tests because they do not need them. That saves you a lot of unnecessary expenses.

Who can object to this? I know of a hospital that keeps electronic records. The patients of Massachusetts General Hospital have already benefited from the work of Dr David Blumenthal, who is now in charge of the Federal Health IT Department at HHS. If Blumenthal does for the nation what he did for MGH, he will save lives and save unnecessary expenses.

Thank you for the clear statement about health care reform and health IT. There are many reasons why people block health IT, not all of them so pretty in the light of day. Clarity in reporting care and bills can reveal things some do not want revealed. The arguments come up about privacy, difficulty to coordinate, etc. These all fall apart under thoughtful examination. There is no doubt that electronic health records are being successfully adopted in many places. To add to the examples given above, remember the water soaked records of patients evacuated from hospitals during Katrina and the fact that emergency medical teams had to struggle to find appropriate treatment. Even as a patient it can not always be easy to remember tests and test results that go back a few years. The well being of the patient and efficiency of care will be increased by health IT. Dr. David Blumenthal has treated patients, conducted research and pioneered in health IT. We are lucky he has agreed to serve in all our interests.

We are entering the most critical time for health reform. We have come a long way and we cannot give up. The President needs our help. Please call your representatives:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Below you will find the current discussions:

Dr. Krugman said, “I don’t know what these Democrats are trying to achieve. Yes, some of the balking senators receive large campaign contributions from the medical-industrial complex — but who in politics doesn’t? If I had to guess, I’d say that what’s really going on is that relatively conservative Democrats still cling to the old dream of becoming kingmakers, of recreating the bipartisan center that used to run America.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/opinion/22krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Health Reform that Puts People First
http://webmail.aol.com/43524/aol/en-us/Suite.aspx

Healthcare Outrage is being ignored by the media: Op Ed by Paul Begala, CNN, 6/17/09

…a retired nurse from Waxahachie, Texas, had health insurance -- or so she thought. She paid her premiums faithfully every month, but when she was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, her health insurance company, Blue Cross, dumped her.

…Jennifer Wittney Horton of Los Angeles, California, whose coverage was canceled because she had been taking a drug for irregular menstruation. Now, she can't get coverage anywhere else.

...if the President wants to pass his ambitious health care reform, he's going to have to…shine the media spotlight on the plight of people…

For the entire article go to this link:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/19/begala.health.care/index.html

In Poll, Wide Support for Government-Run Health
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/health/policy/21poll.html?hp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/22/schumer-dems-may-have-to_n_218743.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/euRegulatoryNews/idUSN2146504720090622

http://www.healthbeatblog.com/2009/06/why-i-am-not-worried-about-health-care-reform.html

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/public-support-for-public-option.html

NYT Op-Ed Columnist: Obama's Make-or-Break Summer

Baucus, White House in deal with drug industry
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090621/ap_on_go_co/us_health_overhaul

EDITORIAL, A Public Health Plan, Published: June 20, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/opinion/21sun1.html

And even Chairman Michael Steel said:

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/19/steele-health-hello/

I am a physician and work part-time at the VA. Over the past 20 years, I have watched the evolution of the VA electronic medical record system and have seen how it has transformed care for that institution. It has all of the user-friendliness of a paper chart, with everything, including imaging, on one platform. It links with billing information, and allows one to instantaneously see a patient's records from ANY VA facility in the country (and will very soon include DOD as well). In addition, it facilitates the use of clinical reminders to improve quality of care, and error recognition (e.g., it flashes the provider a warning if s/he tries to write for two interacting medications). Perhaps most important, this system has been developed behind the VA government firewall and has been obsessively crafted to protect patient health information. As mentioned in the blog post above, it's even free and open source!!

We have a great model for health IT that improves care and saves dollars, and I hope that this receives serious consideration.

Conservatives in Congress, including some Democrats, are trying to kill Obama's public health insurance option not by opposing it outright, but by pushing weak half-measures and calling them "public plans."1 The latest is a proposal for small, regional "co-ops" that would have no chance of competing against insurance companies to bring costs down.2

http://pol.moveon.org/fax?tg=FSMA_2.FSMA_1&cp_id=967&id=16427-1901903-Qwhzwxx&t=3

"A strong public health insurance option must be part of health care reform this year," and outlines key criteria that a plan must be based upon:

Available to all of us: A strong public health insurance option should be available to anyone who chooses to participate. If you like your current plan, you can keep it; if you want to participate in the public health insurance plan, you can choose that.

A national plan with real bargaining clout: In order to truly control costs and compete with private health insurance plans, a strong public health insurance option must be available nationwide.

Ready on day one: Every day we wait on real reform, health care costs continue to rise. A strong public health insurance option with a broad network of providers right out of the gate is key to building a competitive program that will help control costs.

A truly public plan: To ensure it's held to the highest standards of accountability, a public health insurance option must be truly publicly run—accountable and transparent to Congress and to voters.

1. "A Public Health Plan," The New York Times, June 21, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51519&id=16427-1901903-Qwhzwxx&t=5

2. "A co-op for the public option? Let's talk principles," The Now! Blog, June 12, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51498&id=16427-1901903-Qwhzwxx&t=6

3. "New Poll Shows Tremendous Support for Public Health Care Option," Blog for Our Future, June 15, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51510&id=16427-1901903-Qwhzwxx&t=7

HIT is a great example of how a public plan provides a strong platform for needed system innovations and efficiencies. Improvements in the VA provide a great example of how such improvements yield very real improvements in the quality and the efficiency of medical care.

Personally, I don't want any of my personal medical information posted anywhere on the world wide web, period.  And I will not be allowing any M.D. access to any of my personal medical files unless they’ve signed a statement saying that they not share it with anyone else especially medical insurance and pharmaceutical companies, medical schools and medical research laboratories (public or private). My personal health and health care is not to be a part of any medical experiment or research without my written permission.  If they want my personal medical files they are going to have to ask me for it and then give me a discount on my insurance premiums or not charge me for their services. Also they will not be allowed to make any money off the information.

Thank you for your thoughtful discussion.  You're absolutely right that a strong public option, such as the one advocated by President Obama and Dr. Dean, "will facilitate the coordination and standardization of HIT."  You and Enku identify critical reasons why we need HIT to protect the public's (i.e., our) health. 

As Clarissa, James, and Harold point out, a public option, like the VA, can lead the way in demonstrating the value of HIT.  This will only happen if we can convince "relatively conservative Democrats" to relinquish their "old dream of becoming kingmakers" (Krugman).  Now is the time to let our leaders know we want real reform with a strong public option. 

Thank you Ge, Clarissa, James, Harold and Steven.

Please sing and distribute this petition from Senators Durbin, Schumer and Leahy:

Please sign our online petition at www.CitizensForAPublicOption.com today -- and circulate it to your friends -- and show your support of Congress' work to reform America's health care system now!

 The same request was posted by Huffingtonpost:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-dick-durbin/support-a-public-option_b_219086.html

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) moved sharply toward public health care Monday, saying that he could "absolutely" support major parts of Sen. Chuck Schumer's compromise proposal for a public option

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/22/conrad-moves-closer-to-pu_n_219266.html

A True Public Option will not only ensure better care at lower cost to all Americans, it will be the foundation for large scale deployment of innovations in new technology and process for future improvement of the healthcare system. It is the linchpin of all aspects of the reform including HIT.

The medical Industrial Complex and GOP want to deny American people the freedom to choose a True Public Option, with such overwhelming public support, over 7 in 10, even 1 in 2 republicans.

Please watch Governor and Doctor Dean Debunk the opposition and spread his call for action:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1160168965&play=1

http://www.standwithdrdean.com/LastChance

Four California AFSCME Locals and District Council Endorse HR 676
June 18, 2009 by Healthcare-NOW!

Four AFSCME locals and a Northern California based District Council have endorsed HR 676, national single payer healthcare legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).

The four locals are AFSCME East Bay Regional Parks, Local 2428; AFSCME Local 2019; Pleasant City Employees’ Association, AFSCME Local 955; and AFSCME Local 444.

The Oakland-based AFSCME District Council 57 also endorsed the Conyers bill. In a letter to Congressman Conyers informing him of their endorsement, Nancy Swindell, Council President, and George Popyack, Council Director, thanked Conyers for his “strong leadership on this important issue to our nation.”

I'm sure I'm not the only reader who noticed the juxtaposition of two front page stories in Sunday's New York Times dealing with health care. The first article cited a new Times-CBS poll showing that 72 percent of Americans favored a government run health plan comparable to Medicare, which would be available to everyone.

The second reported on a rogue radiologist at a Philadelphia VA hospital who botched 92 prostate procedures. 

The poll is relevant because Congress will soon decide whether to include the so-called "public option" in the Obama health reform bill. As drafted by three House leaders and unveiled last Wednesday, the 852-page bill would include a government-sponsored, Medicare-like public plan.

Republicans and the health industry have been kicking and screaming that this is socialistic. But the poll suggests that defenders of the public plan have nothing to fear politically, and that Republicans are in danger of getting on the wrong side of a popular issue.

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However, that's only the beginning of the story. The reform package, as drafted by the Obama administration and the House leadership, is dubious legislation even with the inclusion of a public option. Basically, it leaves the two worst aspects of the system intact. First, private insurers will continue to dominate. Second, most people will continue to get their insurance through their employers. Given these two bedrock realities, there is no way that the bill can make serious inroads... [more

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here]

Reminder 1:

Please note that President Obama will give a press conference today, 12 June 2009 at 12:30 EST. 

Reminder 2:

Please sign our online petition at www.CitizensForAPublicOption.com today -- and circulate it to your friends -- and show your support of Congress' work to reform America's health care system now!

Reminder 3:

The discussion this week is regarding HIT and how it saves lives and reduces healthcare cost.  Please call your Representative to let them know about it.  BTW, Representative James Clyburn of SC today endorsed HIT.

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Thank you Ge, James, Harold, Stephen, Clarissa for providing useful information on HIT

Clinical Information Technologies and Inpatient Outcomes

A Multiple Hospital Study

Ruben Amarasingham, MD, MBA; Laura Plantinga, ScM; Marie Diener-West, PhD; Darrell J. Gaskin, PhD; Neil R. Powe, MD, MPH, MBA 

Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(2):108-114.

Background  Despite speculation that clinical information technologies will improve clinical and financial outcomes, few studies have examined this relationship in a large number of hospitals.

Methods  We conducted a cross-sectional study of urban hospitals in Texas using the Clinical Information Technology Assessment Tool, which measures a hospital's level of automation based on physician interactions with the information system. After adjustment for potential confounders, we examined whether greater automation of hospital information was associated with reduced rates of inpatient mortality, complications, costs,and length of stay for 167 233 patients older than 50 years admitted to responding hospitals between December 1, 2005, and May 30, 2006.

Results  We received a sufficient number of responses from 41 of 72 hospitals (58%)...automation of notes and records was associated with a 15% decrease in the adjusted odds of fatal hospitalizations ..Higher scores on test results, order entry, and decision support were associated with lower costs for all hospital admissions.

Conclusion  Hospitals with automated notes and records,order entry, and clinical decision support had fewer complications, lower mortality rates, and lower costs.

Thank you Joe for providing empirical data to clarify the importance of HIT.  

The conclusion of the study you presented is definitive: HIT results in fewer complications, lower mortality and lower costs.  If so, like healthcare for all, HIT also becomes a right.    

Friends,

Every day we hear and see more reasons why we can’t afford to delay when it comes to health reform. Last week, I met with small business owners and employees who discussed the burden high costs place on workers and businesses and expressed their support for health reform.
The people I met with aren’t alone. Over the weekend new public polls showed that Americans overwhelmingly support health reform.

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is releasing a new report on www.HealthReform.gov further detailing the skyrocketing costs of health care.
The Hidden Cost of Health Care: Why Americans Are Paying More But Getting Less highlights rising cost of deductibles, co-payments and out-of-pocket expenses that are making it more difficult for families with insurance to receive the health care they need. 

The report notes:

A person with employer-based coverage paid an average of $1,522 on health care (not including premiums) in 2006, compared with $1,260 in 2001. When including the added burden of higher premiums, out-of-pocket costs rose even more sharply, with a 30 percent increase from an average of $2,827 in 2001 to $3,744 in 2006.

For preferred provider organization (PPO) plans purchased through an employer, the average family deductible increased 30 percent in just two years, from $1,034 to $1,344. This effect is more pronounced for small firms, where PPO deductibles increased from $1,439 to $2,367 — a rise of 64 percent.

In 2004, only one in five people with health insurance through an employer had a co-payment of more than $25, but by 2008 the number jumped to one in three.

Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000, a rate three times faster than wages. In 2008, the average premium for a family plan purchased through an employer was $12,680, nearly the annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage job.

Millions of Americans don’t have insurance, and millions more are still struggling to afford the care they need. President Obama was right when he said that health reform “cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.”

If you believe that the health care status quo is unacceptable, share this report with your friends and family. Then, encourage them to visit www.HealthReform.gov and sign: the Statement of Support for health reform legislation this year.

Together, we will make reform a reality.

Kathleen Sebelius

I voted for Obama because I wanted change.  Here we are just 5 months into his Term and we are already see lots of change.  Obama seems liek he will go down as the most productive President in History.

Brian

Trump Network Forum

Single-Payer and False Football Analogies

In today's New York Times (6/19/09), Kevin Sack's article about the prospects for healthcare reform devotes all of a paragraph to single-payer:

Seeking broad popular support, the president and congressional leaders have played between the 40-yard lines of the health policy spectrum. Those who favor a single-payer, government-run insurance system have been marginalized, along with those who would unleash the system to the free market.

This is exactly wrong. Single-payer is, in fact, broadly popular--at least according to many polls, including the most recent from the New York Times (1/11-15/09). The decision to marginalize single-payer is a decision to avoid playing between the 40-yard lines.  The Times and the rest of the corporate media are the ones who have decided that single-payer isn't popular--no matter what their polling tells them.

LATIMES: Lawmakers ask three executives if they'll stop dropping customers except where they can show "intentional fraud." All say no.

Executives of three of the nation's largest health insurers told federal lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that they would continue canceling medical coverage for some sick policyholders, despite withering criticism from Republican and Democratic members of Congress who decried the practice as unfair and abusive. [...]

NPR: Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who chaired the hearing, asked all three CEOs if they would agree to stop rescinding policies except in cases of fraud.

All three said no.

If they don't do something to stop it, said Barton of Texas, Congress will.

Reuters.com - Public health plan could save money faster: policy group

    http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSTRE55N0SJ20090624

Amnesty International USA has intervened in the health care reform debate by urging the U.S. Senate to hold a real debate on single payer, because single payer plans are more universal, equitable and accountable – the three key principles of the human right to health care.

We at Amnesty International believe that policymakers have a historic opportunity to reform a broken health care system. During the presidential debates, Barack Obama took a step in the right direction by affirming that health care should be a right. The legislation now emerging from Washington is, however, a long way from fulfilling that vision.

One reason the current draft legislation falls short of the mark is that single-payer advocates, a crucial human rights constituency, have been largely excluded from the reform process. While the human right to health care does not mandate any particular type of health care system, of the reform proposals being discussed in the U.S. today, the single-payer plans are more universal, equitable and accountable – the three key principles of the human right to health care. Single-payer plans approach health care as an essential service and a public good. A single-payer health care system would pair private delivery with public financing – that is, with private doctors, clinics and hospitals getting all their reimbursement from the government. Medicare, a well-established and popular part of our current health care system, works this way; a single-payer system would institute an improved Medicare for all.

Two of Amnesty International’s ally organizations, the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative and the National Health Law Program, have analyzed current single-payer proposals, and found them to come much closer to fulfilling the human right to health care than the market-based reform plans.

But the powerful Senate Finance Committee, the single most important legislative grouping in the reform process, has yet to hold a public hearing on single-payer. In fact, the committee chair, Sen. Max Baucus, has said that single-payer is “off the table” – a stance he has since acknowledged was mistaken.

Advocates for a human rights-based approach to health care must be included in the reform process. Tell Max Baucus to hold a Finance Committee hearing on single-payer!

Publicly financed and administered health care should be expanded as the strongest vehicle for making health care universally accessible and accountable. Single-payer is a crucial proposal for fulfilling the human right to health care. Without a single-payer seat at the table, we risk that no one will speak up for true universality and a fair, equitable health care system..

Too much of the current debate about health care assumes that we can talk about health care in the same way that we talk about consumer products. But health care is not about markets; it is about the right of every person to live a life of dignity. In health care reform, human rights must come first.

Though things are moving very fast in Congress, it’s not too late to make your voice heard. Tell Max Baucus that single-payer advocates must be heard!

Sincerely,
Sameer Dossani
Demand Dignity Campaign Director
Amnesty International, USA

P.S. You can always get more information on Amnesty International’s Healthcare Is A Human Right project and sign our petition at http://www.amnestyusa.org/healthcare

Is Walmart taking unacceptable risks sourcing its prescription drugs?

Today we released a new report detailing how Walmart sources its much-touted $4 prescription medications from Ranbaxy, the disgraced Indian drug maker.

According to the Department of Justice, Walmart's supplier is responsible for introducing potentially "subpotent, superpotent, or adulterated" drugs into the market. Medications used by millions of Walmart shoppers could have contained active ingredients from unapproved sources, in unapproved blends, and in amounts weaker than FDA-approved doses.

Despite the company's shady dealings, Walmart saw fit to award Ranbaxy with its "prestigious" Outstanding Supplier Award. In fact, Walmart continues to source from the embattled Indian manufacturer even today.

Don't let Walmart play games with the health of millions. Help us blow the whistle on Walmart for its customers to medications made by its unscrupulous supplier.

Let your local newspaper know the truth about Walmart's irresponsible drug sourcing

http://letters.wakeupwalmart.com/letter/?letter_KEY=512&t=wakeup.dwt

Despite years of federal warnings concerning "systemic fraudulent conduct," Walmart continues to source cheap drugs from Ranbaxy. This revelation comes on the heels of extensive PR campaigning to brand Walmart as a global health care and ethical sourcing leader.

If Walmart is interested in providing safe products from responsible suppliers, why is it handing out awards to companies under investigation by the FDA and DOJ? It shows, yet again, that Walmart is interested in little more than its own bottom line.

America deserves to know that Walmart has grossly violated the trust of its customers. Help us put Walmart's misconduct into the public eye: read the report and spread the word.

Write a letter to the editor about Walmart's cozy relationship with Ranbaxy.

http://letters.wakeupwalmart.com/letter/?letter_KEY=512&t=wakeup.dwt

Don't let Walmart off the hook, take action today.

Thanks for all that you do,

The Team,
WakeUpWalMart.com

We're going get single-payer in California if the "private/public option" wonks in D.C don't mess it up for us.  

It really is a HUGE mistake for Obama's Adminstration and the corporate DLCers not allowing any single-payer experts at the table.  There is just not going to be any real reform this year. It is just not going to happen when even you folks [the Healthcare Advisors' Blog] are using the public option as a bargaining chip.

A Background History of The California Universal Healthcare Act http://www.healthcareforall.org/background_history.html

Senator Specter now supports the public option plan:  

http://blogs.mcall.com/penn_ave/2009/06/specter-backs-public-option-on-health-care.html

Singer/songwriter Anne Feeney is headlining a tour throughout California, Oregon, and Washington in July to support national, single-payer healthcare (HR 676 and S 703).

You can find all of her tour dates on her website, and listen to one of her songs right here.

From Anne Feeney’s website:

“We believe that single payer health insurance is the only real solution to 50 million uninsured and countless millions of underinsured people in this country. We’re working closely with health care professionals and activists in all three states. This tour is sponsored and endorsed by all the groups mentioned above, along with generous contributions from many doctors, nurses and concerned individuals, including Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. We hope you’ll catch one of these shows and PLEASE - tell your friends. Call your Representative in Congress today and thank him or her for sponsoring HR 676. If s/he is not one of the 80 co-sponsors, ask him/her to sponsor HR 676. Call your Senators and ask them to sponsor SB 703.

 "America will always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all other options." - Winston Churchill

When all is said and done, the final healthcare reform must truly benefit all Americans.

Also in memory, Man in the Mirror, by Michael Jackson

http://new.music.yahoo.com/michael-jackson/videos/view/man-in-the-mirror--2162277