health care policy Archives - Page 18 of 25

Comparative Effectiveness Research–Is Health Care Reform Possible Without It?

Improve health, reduce costs: that’s the mantra health care reform advocates keep repeating. And it’s easy to see why: this year, total health care spending in the United States is expected to reach $2.5 trillion, accounting for almost 18% of the gross domestic product. By 2018 the total could be $4.4 trillion-and because economic growth is expected to be slower over this period, that total may account for one-fifth of the gross domestic product in 2018. And even with all of this spending, the United States lags behind other industrialized nations on many measures of health and well being.

While there are many paths to achieving the twin goals of better outcomes and lower costs, a consensus has been growing among health policy experts and economists that part of the solution is to improve the way medical research is conducted and then put it into practice in both providers’ and consumers’ decision making. Comparative effectiveness research (CER)-a model by which cost-benefit analyses of different treatments for a given condition are compared-provides the means for understanding which interventions yield the best health outcomes for the least amount of money.

Read the rest of the article in the October issue of AJN here. With something so complex, life altering, and expensive as health care, how could we not expect to do a little comparative shopping about cost and quality?

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:22:02-05:00October 1st, 2009|health care policy|0 Comments

Why Doesn’t the U.S. Have an Office of the National Nurse?

By Diana Mason, editor-in-chief emeritus

First, the necessary throat-clearing about who and where: I recently attended a public session held by the Institute of Medicine Initiative on the Future of Nursing. Chaired by University of Miami president and former secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala and chief nurse for Cedar Sinai Medical Center Linda Burnes Bolton, the session began with presentations by two nurses involved in the Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England: Ann Keen, Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Undersecretary for Health Services, who chairs the British commission; and Jane Salvage, the lead secretariat for the commission and a former contributing editor for AJN.

Now the point: During the formal session, Keen noted that various countries in the UK each have a chief nurse officer (CNO) who is responsible for developing a national nursing strategy. Afterwards, I interviewed Keen and Salvage, who both said they didn’t understand why American nurses were not supporting the call for a CNO for the United States, one who would be charged with developing and overseeing a national nursing strategy for this nation. In their eyes, a CNO who is on par with the surgeon general could help the nation to develop approaches to ensure an adequate nursing workforce, identify barriers to their full utilization, identify new models of care to better promote the health of the public, and develop strategies […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:22:18-05:00September 21st, 2009|career, health care policy, nursing perspective|17 Comments

Medical Tourism: How Far Would You Go?

All that and more aside, I think the more worrisome issue is the fact that our own insurers are sending patients to other countries for care. What do you think? Does that touch a chord down deep inside of you as a health care provider in the United States? It does for me.

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:22:23-05:00September 16th, 2009|health care policy|2 Comments

Financial Strain and Childhood Cancer: What’s Your Definition of ‘Freedom’?

By Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN

I recently read a stirring blog post in the NY Times from a fellow nurse, about a cancer patient she’d treated who was an insurance salesman but whose last months were dominated by a desperate attempt to manage his mounting medical bills, bills which left his wife with a second massive burden on top of her grief at his death.

Like Theresa Brown, I am an oncology nurse. In my work in pediatric oncology, I have also seen families ravaged by cancer treatment—physically, emotionally, and economically. Young families that fight to save their children often end up bankrupt, or with a ruined marriage from the emotional strain of dealing with a loss coupled with financial strain. Financial concerns are ever present.

Theresa’s article really hit home. I hope you take the time to read it. As I was listening to President Obama’s health care reform speech last week, I heard him mention Senator Kennedy’s experience as a parent of two children diagnosed with cancer. When it comes to the pain and suffering that children experience during treatment, the Kennedy childrens’ experience and that of children without reliable insurance were probably quite similar.

I would guess, though, that the experience was very different for the parents. […]