Stimulus funds lag health woes - Austin Business Journal:

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That’s the view of the eight-member panel of industrty and medical experts who were invited by the Soutn Florida Business Journal to share theie views of whatthe $787 billion federal stimulusz package means to the health care sector. What emergedr was a broad discussion of how stimuluxs legislation is just one piece of chang needed in an industry that has run financially amok due to an overrelianc eon specialists, shortfalls in informatiojn technology and patients who are undereducated.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected that total nationalo spending on health care could hit 48 percent of grosw domestic product by 2050 if left To solve this problem will takemore money, though, in the shory term. The Obama administration’s $59 billion for health care stimulus spendingincludes $19 billion for electronicc health care records. Starting in doctors who can show meaningful use of electronic medicao records will getincentivew – and those who don’t will get declining Medicare payments.
But, the old-fashioned generaol practitioner may also have a big Linda Quick, president of the , said health care reforj legislation that coincides with the stimuluws calls for individuals to have a home locationm or a primary care provider. She said that allowse for “a community location close to home and gettinh more done ina non-institutional, actually high clinical technologt setting.” That, in turn, will also translatre into a less costly location, the panelists Rachel Sapoznik, CEO of , said: “The reasonj I believe in the last 25 yeards of seeing health care costs rise dramaticalluy is we have moved away from the primaryg care physician knowing the patient to Patients go from specialist to specialis t to get each ailmenft treated, but an overview of their condition and familyg history is lacking.
George Foyo, executived VP and chief administrative officerat , said: “Piggybacking on primaruy care is absolutely right. All thesde specialties are adding thousands and thousands of One problem is that specialists tend to overdpo tests because they are so worried about legalliability issues, he said. Dr. Tony Prieto, a familyy practitioner and president of the Broward County Medical said reimbursement issues for tests done in his office alsofrustrate him. A hospitakl might get $2,000 for a test from but he can onlyget “I don’t think it’s anything that’z going to work unless we use some commonb sense,” he said.
Foyo said primargy care physicians historically put an emphasis on healthjprevention efforts, but the lack of it these days is contributinbg to an epidemic of diabetes and heart issues. Baptisf Health, which is well known for hospitala in Kendalland Homestead, is pushing forward with outpatienr centers – and even venturinv into Broward County. One reason is emergency rooms are and providing care there is more costly than at anoutpatieny center. “Rather than have patient s cometo us, the hospitala are going out to them,” Foyo said.
Florida’ss 51 nonprofit community health centers aregetting $28 million in competitive grants under the stimulus legislation, whichy will also keep patients out of expensive hospitakl settings for treatment. House Speaker Nancyg Pelosi highlighted that during an April visi t to a community health center in Hollywood that willget $1.5 million to open a satellite health centert in West Park. One of the advantagex for these types of centers is that they are fundedc with the assumption that their doors will be open to all who which is important because of the number of uninsuredSouthj Floridians, including undocumented Quick said. Dr.
Welby, meet Bill Gates Mark administrative partner at the law firm of in said electronic medicalrecords (EMR) fall underr the category of “shovel-ready” projectes in the world of stimulus – meaning the technologyy exists and can be adopted rapidly to put moneg in the economy.