Entries from June 2010 ↓

You have definitely heard much about Health Information Technology lately with numerous politicians and organization advocating for the introduction of a whole nation-wide Health IT system. While it sure sounds very progressive not everyone understands what it is all about and what are the benefits of introducing such a system for separate individuals. Do not worry, this is the place to find about more about Health IT!

What Health Information Technology is all about?

Health Information Technology is simply a term, which popularly denotes the concept of “electronic medical records”. This is the concept of storing all the data you have in a typical medical record in electronic form with much easier and wider accessibility for medical staff to that information as compared to traditional paper records.

What benefits does Health Information Technology provide?

Health IT is believed to improve the speed and quality of healthcare services, minimizing potential risks of having little information on the patient. It is especially useful when the person visits more than one doctor and has more health concerns. For instance, visiting your primary care physician and another specialist will be much more effective as both will have access to the same information being aware of the prescribed drugs and treatments that the other has indicated. This will minimize the chance of one doctor prescribing drugs that will interact negatively with those prescribed by another doctor, a situation which is quite common these days. In that way doctors will be much more efficient when working with complex cases. Another great example is a person injured in an accident and requiring emergency healthcare. By having an electronic database of medical records doctors will be able to help the person much faster and more efficiently.

Having a nationwide database of medical records makes it almost impossible to lose any data on the patient like it usually happens during natural disasters when paper records are destroyed. And with instant access to the database from any medical facility across the country it will take seconds for the doctor to give you appropriate care no matter how far from home you are now. Continue reading →

There’s much debate around the healthcare system reform proposed by President Barack Obama. And while there are many people who protest against it, and those who support it, it is important to know what it is all about in the first place. Here is a short overview of the reform, which is comprised of three essential parts:

1. Assure all American citizens with access to comprehensive and affordable health coverage

The main features of this part are:

• New Public National Health Plan, which will be very close to the current health coverage provided to federal employees. The main difference is that the new plans will be available to all US citizens for a reasonable price no matter of their financial situation. Deductibles and co-payments will be reduced to minimum, while low-income persons will have the possibility to use additional subsidies.
• National Health Insurance Exchange, which will allow US citizens to look for private health plans. It will set regulations on private insurance providers in order to make sure that private plans are not too different form public ones.
• New business mandate requiring national enterprises to pay for the Public National Health Plan.
• Individual mandate aimed specifically at children.
• More support provided to existing programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.

2. Improve the quality of healthcare services and lower their costs

This initiative presumes federal financial assistance for improving the quality of the services and lowering the costs, with additional assistance to enterprises that cover high-risk employees. Continue reading →

The world is often a confusing place and nowhere is the confusion likely to be so complete as in the tax system. Here we have the best brains in the Government taking on the best brains in the private sector. The Government wants the maximum tax take. The private sector wants to arrange things so that no one with money ever has to pay any tax. Somewhere in the middle the two world-views collide and, usually, some tax is paid. Anyway, when President Obama signed the healthcare reform bill into law, some of the largest employers in the US let out a collective sigh of pain. As an example, Caterpillar is the world’s largest manufacturer of excavators and bulldozers. The day after the President’s signature, Caterpillar announced it was taking a charge of $100 million to earnings over an expected loss of tax benefits. A number of other influential corporations have also made allowances in their accounts. The reason is that the healthcare reform ended a tax break given to cover the cost of supplying drugs to early retirees. Continue reading →

When you thought your health troubles were costing you much, they got even more expensive for fix. It is almost unreal to come to any health specialist and see him getting interested in cutting your payments. This is your task and you have to make sure your wallet is not crying tears after a visit to any health care provider. Here are some points to consider:

We spend too much money on our health when we realize that the situation got out of control. But we don’t really want to think that it is possible to prevent the disease instead of curing it. We need to keep the healthy lifestyle if we want to stay healthy all the time without any need for the health care medication. Healthy food, exercise and no smoking habits will keep your payments down giving you a chance to economize on unnecessary things. We know it is always easier to say than to do but this is the only way to save yourself from unwanted extra costs that you can do without.

Every health situation and case is totally unique. You can’t predict the health care plan you may need in the future. If you are a member of a big family or you have little children that you want to be a part of the plan too, you have to do some research to find the best possible option for yourself and your beloved people. There are different plans to choose from but they usually require consideration and time. You need to sort out what is the most important thing for you in a plan, how much you are willing to pay, what is the most important for you – deductibles, co-pays or other features. Can you afford to pay a little bit more for those or not? The truth is that it is very important to choose the right plan as it can save you lots of cash. Continue reading →