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Critics say the current privacy rules do not protect patients. Hospital administrators and insurance companies lean towards keeping the laws as they are. The Obama Administration is working on rewriting those laws in regard to patients being notified of a breach in privacy over patient’s records. The real question is in the language and how does one define the “harm” done in such a breach of privacy with regard to patients and their records?

How are you feeling so far now that we’re five months into this health reform system? Have you embraced the change yet? Well, the White House is asking you and every American physician to embrace this new health reform system. Is that something that you can do? Where do you find yourself in regard to this matter…which side of the fence are you on?

Health clinics located in retail stores are less expensive and possibly more convenient for patients than primary care providers; however, are they just as beneficial for patients? Do the patients who frequent the retail clinics utilize these facilities for normal health concerns and not for more excessive health risks and illness? Some argue that retail health clinics can take away business from primary care providers; although on the other side of the fence, some claim that these retail clinics can provide referrals for those primary care providers…so this could be a good cycle of networking, right?

There is another rule coming out with the new health care overhaul. When a physician refers a Medicare and Medicaid patient to one of their “in-house” imaging machine centers, they must disclose to those patients that they own the equipment. In conjunction with that disclosure, they also must provide the patients with a list of 10 alternate centers within the local area (25 miles or less) where they can go to get the imaging done. This rule will take effect next year.

Patients who live in rural areas in the United States are less likely to receive adequate trauma care than those who are living in more urban and suburban areas. Facilities in the rural areas are not as adequate and there is a shortage of surgeons in these rural facilities.

One of the key parts of the new healthcare law is that Americans will be required to carry insurance coverage, even if they do not want to carry such coverage; if they don’t they will be fined. If according to the mandate, they all purchased coverage by 2014; there are definitely not enough physicians to care for all of those new patients. With the new healthcare law and all of the uncertainty regarding the policies, the number of physicians needed do not seem to be going into patient care as much as before.

The right way to have a medical malpractice case reviewed is by another physician who is a neutral party and has only the goal of improved quality medical care and the safety of the patient in mind. This is peer review with a noble cause. Sham peer review is when a physician reviews a medical malpractice case with bad intentions to cause damage to the defendant physician’s character and this peer reviewer does not have improved quality of medical care in mind.

Are you confused by the healthcare reform law? If you are, then you’re not alone. Apparently, many Americans do not even know what is in this law and they are misinformed and uncertain about how this law will affect their futures.

Where does this miscommunication problem stem from? The current Administration is not sending the message out correctly about this healthcare law. People are afraid of change and need to know specifics about what is going on, especially as this affects the healthcare for them and their families.

Consumers are even deciding not to proceed forward with elective medical procedures. If this trend of less used medical care continues, the current policy makers will appreciate this trend. This could force insurance companies to decrease premiums and bring more Americans in to a dependence on Government healthcare.

This seems like a political maneuver from the Obama administration to increase support for the new health care law among senior citizens; however, Medicare advised the AP that the commercial is not political, only informative for seniors.

In response to our blog posting from July 30th, this post continues on that subject of health care reform. At the time of that blog post, the current Administration had not given any response yet to address the needs of the insurance providers regarding their side to the story when it came to implementing the new health care policy and providing coverage for children with pre-existing conditions.

There is a new pilot program in effect in NYC that will utilize a different approach towards cutting medical malpractice costs.

Many major insurance companies are apprehensive that parents will refrain from getting coverage for their children until their children become ill, and then they’ll try to get them coverage.

Doctor’s Advocate is pleased to announce the launch of our new website and company blog. Our goal with the new site is to serve as a resource for healthcare professionals, as well as to engage the medical community, patients, and lawmakers to promote healthy discussion about various healthcare reform, medical malpractice, and related topics.