Friday, October 30, 2009

Rx: The Cure of Market-Based Health Care Reform, Like Retail Clinics Partnering With Hospitals

From the Minneapolis-St. Paul StarTribune:

In a marriage of giants, Allina Hospitals and Clinics is teaming up with MinuteClinic to coordinate care for patients and expand medical services down the road. Allina is the biggest hospital and clinic group in the Twin Cities, with 11 hospitals and 90 clinics. MinuteClinic, the pioneer of bare-bones retail kiosks staffed by nurse practitioners, has 24 locations in the Twin Cities and 500 nationwide. This is the second such partnership for MinuteClinic, coming after a similar deal with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

"By coordinating care between the retail clinic setting and our clinics and hospitals, patients can feel confident that they will be well taken care of, whether they have a minor illness or something more serious," Kenneth Paulus, Allina's chief executive, said in a statement.

Allina doctors will offer medical oversight to MinuteClinic nurse practitioners in Minnesota, and the two organizations will share electronic medical records. An Allina patient who visits a MinuteClinic, for example, will get that visit recorded in her Allina record.

The Allina/MinuteClinic deal comes at a time of uncertainty in health care. Health care legislation in Congress contemplates ways to both cut payments and shift from paying for procedures to paying for outcomes. That would pressure medical providers to be more efficient -- for example, patients with less serious conditions may be seen by nurse practitioners instead of doctors, at lower cost. That is already happening in some areas, with retail clinics the most obvious example.

5 Comments:

At 10/31/2009 5:08 AM, Blogger bob wright said...

Amazing.

As Daniel Henninger
said in Thursday's WSJ, at a time when there are over 100,000 iPhone apps, the Washington pols want to cram down the throats of Americans a one-size-fits all health insurance plan.

Great idea. Soviet style central planning to "fix" health care.

 
At 10/31/2009 6:30 AM, Anonymous American Delight said...

"Health care legislation in Congress contemplates ways to both cut payments and shift from paying for procedures to paying for outcomes. That would pressure medical providers to be more efficient."

Wrong, Star-Tribune--taking government out of health care is what would pressure medical providers to be more efficient.

 
At 10/31/2009 7:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

@American Delight,
You might be surprised to find out that private health insurers have been the leaders in proposing pay for outcomes rather than procedures.

Why should the government not also want to buy its services in the least costly manner? Assuming that government is going to purchase health care for some, do you want it to overpay?

 
At 10/31/2009 10:42 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Assuming that government is going to purchase health care for some, do you want it to overpay?

The problem hasn't been overpaying, it's been deliberately underpaying in order to shift costs to the privately insured. Paying for outcomes is fine provided the negotiated price is fairly arrived at and not just jammed down the throats of providers.

 
At 11/06/2009 1:48 AM, Blogger JohnLloydScharf said...

USPS/IRS Health Care
If health care is the problem, insurance is not the cause and government is not the answer.
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Of those "50 million," that lack insurance there were 45,000 who died without health care.
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WITH health care, 98,000 died FROM health care because of malpractice.
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The question is do we want to trust that largest corporation in the world, the U.S. Government. Do not expect house calls anytime soon.
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We have seen how well the government delivers on its promises and its bureaucracies pursue the money without giving us benefits on so many levels.
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Imagine another 111 bureacracies that only ultimately must listen to the Secretary of the Treasury - another "service" of which is the IRS.
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http://theprogressivecapitalist.blogspot.com/2009/10/affordable-health-care-for-america-act.html
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That blog of mine above has several .pdf connections (HR. 3962 and two summaries, a few videos, and page references for new taxes and other mandates).
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If you cannot use the link, google "Progressive Capitalist H.R. 3962."
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If you believe the promises of this bill, you have to deal with the lie that it fosters competition with a government option called the "Public Option" and establishes the government as a monopoly making its own rules. Don't worry. You'll run out of "rich" soon enough.
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We have at least a $12 trillion economy of which at least $1.8 trillion is spent on health care.
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If you read the bill, there are plenty of opportunities to soak the middle class, if you do not mind the 1.6 million made jobless.
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REPUBLICAN Affordable Health Care For America Act
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MAKING HEALTH Care Affordable For EVERY AmeriCAN
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http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_hr3962_boehner_sub.pdf
http://pnhp.org/excessdeaths/health-insurance-and-mortality-in-US-adults.pdf

 

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