Posted on October 27th, 2008 by Frank Fortin
The conference ended with a stimulating roundtable discussion among Bruce Auerbach, president of the MMS; Cleve Killingsworth, chair and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Donna Cupelo, New England Region President of Verizon, and Paul Levy, President and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The moderator is Jim Braude from New England [...]
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Posted on October 27th, 2008 by Frank Fortin
Elliott Fisher, MD, from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, said solutions that focus on changing individual physician behavior will provide only limited benefit. He said lasting solutions must focus on the role of the underlying local health system as the driver of cost and quality. A better approach, he offered, is [...]
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Posted on October 27th, 2008 by Frank Fortin
Susan Dentzer, editor in chief of Health Affairs, reviewed the literature on the causes of rising costs and suggested solutions. According to Dentzer, why are costs rising? advances in medical technology poor health status, especially obesity poor productivity no competition on prices Fee for service penalizes those who re-engineer their practice NOT: aging population, or [...]
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Posted on October 27th, 2008 by Frank Fortin
JudyAnn Bigby, MD, Massachusetts Health and Human Services secretary, kicked off the conference with persuasive evidence that Massachusetts has achieved a great deal in expanding access. But she also pointed out the persistent disparities in health care access for minorities. She touched broadly costs and quality, offering that payment reform, expanded health IT and transparent [...]
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