Tuesday, February 08, 2005
"[A] fundamental shift in the way patients and physicians navigate the health care system is needed"
[Mitch Mitchell, "Poll: Health care system isn't working," The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Wichita Eagle, 8 February 2005.]
A new poll suggests that Americans find fault with the U.S. health care system, and one doctor says that minor changes will not be enough to turn it around:
A significant majority (64 percent) of those contacted by Research!America, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that advocates for medical research, said that most Americans do not get the health care they need, and 41 percent said that they or someone they know has experienced a medical error.
The survey also reported that 41 percent of the respondents believed that they or a family member received incorrect or ineffective treatment.
The Research!America survey, released Feb. 1, closely follows another survey released Jan. 11 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. This survey outlines 12 health priorities that it says should be tackled by the president and Congress in the coming year.
In this survey, respondents said they were most concerned about rising health-care costs and steep health insurance premium increases. Issues listed during the president's State of the Union address Wednesday, such as medical liability reform and stem-cell research, ranked 11 and 12 on the list of priorities, respectively.
Most people still have great faith in the United States health care system, said Susan Blue, a Fort Worth neurologist and president of the Tarrant County Medical Society. But there are some issues that need to be addressed, she said.
Medical liability reform, tax credits and other fixes mentioned in the president's State of the Union address are excellent ideas, Blue said. However, a fundamental shift in the way patients and physicians navigate the health care system is needed, as well as a re-examination of the way profits are removed from the system by insurance plans.
Insurance plans and government documentation requirements have limited the amount of time physicians can spend with their patients and patients seldom understand what their health insurance policies will and will not cover, Blue said.
[Mitch Mitchell, "Poll: Health care system isn't working," The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Wichita Eagle, 8 February 2005.]
A new poll suggests that Americans find fault with the U.S. health care system, and one doctor says that minor changes will not be enough to turn it around:
A significant majority (64 percent) of those contacted by Research!America, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that advocates for medical research, said that most Americans do not get the health care they need, and 41 percent said that they or someone they know has experienced a medical error.
The survey also reported that 41 percent of the respondents believed that they or a family member received incorrect or ineffective treatment.
The Research!America survey, released Feb. 1, closely follows another survey released Jan. 11 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. This survey outlines 12 health priorities that it says should be tackled by the president and Congress in the coming year.
In this survey, respondents said they were most concerned about rising health-care costs and steep health insurance premium increases. Issues listed during the president's State of the Union address Wednesday, such as medical liability reform and stem-cell research, ranked 11 and 12 on the list of priorities, respectively.
Most people still have great faith in the United States health care system, said Susan Blue, a Fort Worth neurologist and president of the Tarrant County Medical Society. But there are some issues that need to be addressed, she said.
Medical liability reform, tax credits and other fixes mentioned in the president's State of the Union address are excellent ideas, Blue said. However, a fundamental shift in the way patients and physicians navigate the health care system is needed, as well as a re-examination of the way profits are removed from the system by insurance plans.
Insurance plans and government documentation requirements have limited the amount of time physicians can spend with their patients and patients seldom understand what their health insurance policies will and will not cover, Blue said.
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