Thomson Reuters Paper Charts Course to Eliminating $3.6 Trillion in Healthcare Waste in a Decade

14 Jun 2010 07:00 Africa/Lagos


Thomson Reuters Paper Charts Course to Eliminating $3.6 Trillion in Healthcare Waste in a Decade

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. healthcare industry can eliminate $3.6 trillion in healthcare waste over the next 10 years by addressing a series of operational inefficiencies, according to a white paper published today by Thomson Reuters.


The report analyzes the country's leading public and private sector efforts to reduce waste in the healthcare system and identifies five proven strategies that have been deployed in the real world to cut costs and improve patient care.


"Last year, we published a report concluding that the U.S. healthcare system wastes $700 billion a year," said Bob Kelley, vice president for healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters and co-author of the paper released today. "This new report describes a possible path for significantly reducing that waste."


By systematically incorporating these best practices into the organizational structure of the healthcare industry, the new paper says, it's possible to cut waste 5 percent per year. Over 10 years, that would add up to $3.6 trillion and keep total healthcare expenditures at their current rate of about 17 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). Among the strategies outlined in the paper are the following:


-- Engage Consumers: By engaging the public in discussions with their
caregivers regarding the value and risk of specific treatment options,
it is possible to dramatically reduce money spent for unnecessary
treatments.

-- Coordinate Care: Healthcare providers lacking access to patients'
medical records leads to the duplication of tests and inappropriate
treatments that are estimated to cost up to $50 billion annually.
Simple incentives have made a significant difference in the
implementation of electronic records in several healthcare systems.

-- Manage Disease and Maintain Wellness: This strategy ensures that
patients are actively engaged, along with their clinicians, in
managing their own health through attention to personal behavior,
disease prevention, early detection and appropriate care for chronic
diseases.

-- Design for Patient Safety and Quality: Preventable medical errors
account for $50 billion to $100 billion in annual healthcare spending.
By implementing a simple checklist approach based on evidence-based
best practices, several healthcare systems have improved patient
outcomes and reduced costs.

-- Reduce Opportunities for Fraud: In 2007, when the U.S. spent roughly
$2.3 trillion on healthcare, fraud was estimated to account for as
much as 5 to 10 percent of healthcare spending, according to a report
published by the George Washington University School of Public Health
and Health Services. Computerized systems that track data anomalies to
identify fraud and breaches in payment integrity have been proven to
stem these costs in several state Medicaid programs.


"We started with a premise that RAND Health researchers put forth in a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine -- it is reasonable to set a goal of constraining healthcare spending to its current share of the GDP," said Ray Fabius, M.D., chief medical officer at Thomson Reuters and co-author of the white paper. "Then we investigated initiatives that have successfully reduced healthcare costs without sacrificing quality -- real-world examples of what's possible -- and in some cases estimated the savings if they were widely replicated.


"The result, detailed in this paper, is one path for reaching this goal over the next decade."


The study can be downloaded at www.factsforhealthcare.com. (A simple registration is required.)


Thomson Reuters


Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs 55,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.


Source: Thomson Reuters

CONTACT: David Wilkins, Director, Public Relations, Healthcare &
Science, +1-734-913-3397, david.wilkins@thomsonreuters.com


Web Site: http://www.thomsonreuters.com/


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Fidel Castro Commends President Barack Obama on Historic Health Care Reform

Comrade Fidel Castro

The legendary revolutionary Fidel Castro of communist Cuba on Thursday commended President Barack Obama for his historic Health Care Reform law and called it a miracle. But he also seemed to have responded to the Wednesday statement of President Barack Obama on the reluctance of the communist government to accept democratic reforms and "for an end to the repression, for the immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuba, and for respect for the basic rights of the Cuban people."
Castro called Obama "a fanatic believer in capitalist imperialism."

"We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro was quoted from an essay published in the communist state media.

"It is really incredible that 234 years after the Declaration of Independence ... the government of that country has approved medical attention for the majority of its citizens, something that Cuba was able to do half a century ago," Castro added.


See The Washington Post for the details.

14 U.S. States Go To Court Over Health Care Reforms and Democrats Receive Death Threats

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

14 U.S. States Go To Court Over Health Care Reforms and Democrats Receive Death Threats

14 U.S. states Tuesday March 23, 2010, filed lawsuits against the reform of America's $2.5trillion health care system. 12 Republican attorneys general and a Democrat James "Buddy" Caldwell of Louisiana filed a joint lawsuit that the legislation was a violation of state-government rights in the U.S. Constitution and would stretch the lean budgets of many states. The plaintiffs are from Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington State, Idaho, and South Dakota. A Virginia's attorney general filed a separate lawsuit.
“I am confident the court is going to declare the new health care law unconstitutional,” said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum whose lawsuit is against the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Labor.


Vice President Joe Biden who whispered 'This is a big f****** deal' into President Barack Obama’s ear as he hugged him after the historic ceremony at the White House and the White House press secretary Robert Gibbs who tweeted: 'Yes, Mr Vice-President, you're right' will have more to deal with now that the majority of Republicans are fuming and threatening the life of many Democrats in Congress.

In fact 25 percent of Republicans think President Barack Obama is the Antichrist and a Muslim masquerading as a Christian.

A coffin was placed on the lawn of Rep. Russ Carnahan's home outside of St. Louis, Missouri. The Washington Post reported Wednesday the details of the Republicans backlash against the comprehensive health care reform law. The offices and homes of many Democrats have been attacked by vandals instigated by the Republicans since an Alabama blogger, Mike Vanderboegh prompted his readers to throw bricks at the windows of Democratic headquarters across the country.

The FBI and other security agencies are already investigating the threats against House Democrats. Blogs and online forums circulated invectives of protesters such as those of several GOP lawmakers who stood on the balcony of Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Capitol last weekend holding up signs of "Kill the Bill" and Tea Party protesters yelling "No! No! No!" and one screamed, "Nancy, you will burn in hell for this!"



More millions of Americans will benefit from the reforms? See A Final Weekend of Whoppers?

Republicans backlash against those who voted in favour of the Health Reform bill should not degenerate into violent attacks against lawmakers who agreed that the health insurance reform will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance, coverage for those who don’t, and will lower the cost of health care for millions of families, businesses, and ends the worst practices of insurance companies in the United States of America.


~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Health care reform: 'A Small Step For Today. A Giant Step For Tomorrow'

22 Mar 2010 03:32 Africa/Lagos


'A Small Step For Today. A Giant Step For Tomorrow'

Courageous Vote in House Lays Foundation for a Health Care System We Can Take Pride In.

WASHINGTON, .March 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Health care reform is on its way and here to stay - but the work toward building a health care system that serves the people instead of the special interests has just begun, USAction said Sunday.


USAction Executive Director Jeff Blum praised the House for what he called a "courageous, history-making vote that will make Americans stronger and more secure."


"This is a small step for today and a giant step for tomorrow," Blum said. "But make no mistake: special interests and opponents of reform will be organizing from day one to repeal this bill and take away our access to affordable health care. Our job is to stand our ground and not let that happen."


Blum said consumers will realize some of the benefits of health care reform almost immediately, such as stopping insurance companies from cancelling coverage retroactively when a person gets sick, and putting lifetime limits on the dollar value of benefits.


Other short- and long-term benefits of health care reform include reducing drug costs for seniors, saving money for small business owners, preventing insurance companies from denying care based on pre-existing conditions, lowering the growth trajectory of health insurance costs and expanding coverage for uninsured people.


"With this historic vote for health care reform, Americans will live longer, health care will be more affordable and we all will enjoy a higher quality of life," said USAction President William McNary, who has worked in the trenches for health care reform for decades and helped lead the 1993-94 effort. "This is a victory of people over profits, hope over fear and change over the status quo."


NOTE TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA: USAction affiliates and partners in more than two dozen states will engage in "thank you" events at home beginning Monday. Affiliates and partners will be holding various activities to thank members who voted in favor of health care reform. For a complete list of events, please contact David Elliot at 202-607-7036 or delliot@usaction.org


In 2008, USAction co-founded Health Care for America Now, the nation's largest health care reform campaign with more than 1,100 coalition partners. In 2009, USAction affiliates and partners, with the help of their state HCAN coalitions, generated nearly half a million grassroots contacts to Congress, organized or supported 480 town hall meetings and forums and turned out 70,997 supporters to 1,785 Congressional outreach activities, including town halls, lobby visits, grassroots call-in days, petition deliveries, press conferences and letter-writing campaigns.


Source: USAction

CONTACT: David Elliot at 202-607-7036 or delliot@usaction.org


Web Site: http://www.usaction.gov/

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