What’s right and what’s wrong with the U.S. health care system?

What’s right and what’s wrong with the U.S. health care system? Does it need a major overhaul or a few tweaks?

In a two part episode, I discuss the cost of the U.S. health care system with Dr. Robert Berenson, a health care policy expert who has served as a practicing physician, the manager of a large health plan and in senior government positions, including being in charge of Medicare payment policy and private health plan contracting in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Dr. Berenson describes how incentives need to change to get control of our medical costs.  You can hear both of these episodes and others on my online podcast radio program, Getting Better Health Care.

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Electronic medical records can have an impact on patient satisfaction

One of the big efforts to improve the quality of medical care in the United States is the implementation of electronic health records. By putting our medical charts into electronic media, doctors will have more uniform access to our health histories, can be given ticklers for important screening tests, and can be told of potential drug interactions with medicines that were prescribed by other doctors, along with many other potential benefits. You can learn more about the advantages [and disadvantages] of electronic health records on my Getting Better Health Care radio program: “Will the electronic medical record revolutionize health care?.

These benefits may help improve patient satisfaction, too.

However, electronic health records have the potential to negatively impact patients’ medical experiences.  DrScore.com research has shown that the No. 1 factor that drives patients’ satisfaction with their doctors is the patient knowing he or she is seeing a friendly, caring doctor.  If patients find their doctors buried in a computer screen, punching buttons and typing, it could take away from the sense that the doctor is providing the patient personal attention.

There are some things doctors can do to manage the situation.

• First, don’t put the computer on one side of the doctor’s chair and the patient on the other.  If you do place things that way, the doctor has to  turn their back to the patient to see the chart, and that is simply not good for patients’ impressions of their doctor.  I know, because that’s how things are arranged in my new office!
• The other thing that doctors can do, especially if their office is like mine, is to acknowledge the problem to the patient. Tell the patient, “These new electronic health records are helpful in so many ways, but one thing I don’t like about them is that I have to turn my back to you to look at your chart.  I hope you will understand and don’t mind.”  Comments like these let patients clearly know that they are being seen by a physician that cares about them and about their feelings.  Letting patients in on one of these little secrets about medical office functioning also lets them feel like they are a part of the process. And they are part of the process — they are the very center of it.

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Why can we trust new drugs? Pharma experts tell us on Getting Better Health Care

Clinical trials bring us the new wonder drugs that would have been considered either magical or miraculous in earlier times. Are you interested in how drugs are tested to assure efficacy and safety?

On two episodes of Getting Better Health Care, clinical researcher Bea Abrams, PhD, with over 30 years experience in pharmaceutical development, explains the process of clinical trials done to bring a new drug to market.  She shares with us critical information that lets us know how much we can trust new drugs and what to look out for.

In a subsequent episode, I’ll be talking with Dr. Lawrence Friedhoff — author of the book, New Drugs: An Insider’s Guide to the FDA’s New Drug Approval Process for Scientists, Investors and Patients — about myths that surround new drug development.

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A dark side of medical care?

Doctors strive to give their patients great medical care, but Dr. Evan Levine, author of the book, What Your Doctor Won’t (or Can’t) Tell You, and of the blog, Healthcare – A Behind the Scenes Look, believes there’s another side to the story:

Doctors engaging in unethical practices and taking advantage of patients to make money.

Hear from Dr. Levine and find out what he thinks you should watch out for on Getting Better Health Care.

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Do you want better medical care? Be a better partner.

Do you want better medical care? Be a better partner..

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Do you want better medical care? Be a better partner.

Don’t wait around for a better health care system.  You can facilitate better medical care yourself just by following some  advice from Dr. Alan Ettinger, author of The Essential Patient Handbook.  You can hear Dr. Ettinger talk about some of the highlights on Getting Better Health Care.

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Health care reform — beyond the hype

Health care reform — beyond the hype.

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Health care reform — beyond the hype

We are inundated with partisan bickering over health care reform. What does the health care reform legislation really do? Is it truly a government takeover of health care?

Dr. Jack Resnick followed health care reform for the American Medical Association (AMA)  and the American Academy of Dermatology. He has read the whole bill and tells us the real story without the bias.  You can hear my interview of Dr. Resnick on Getting Better Health Care.

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What is the life of a medical school like?

What is the life of a medical school like?.

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What is the life of a medical school like?

To better understand what doctors are like, it might help to know what their medical school education entails.  I speak with Craig Yarbrough about what a typical day is like for a medical student on Getting Better Health Care.

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