Category: Survey: Doctors Have Mixed Feelings About Health Law

MEwens
By Louise Radnofsky
Doctors’ feelings about the health-care overhaul law passed last year are about as mixed as their patients’, research released today shows.
Some 44% of doctors said the law was “a good start,” according to a survey carried out by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions consulting group. Another 44% agreed that the […]

MEwens
Easing Heart Fears?: Research published online by the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests no increased risk for serious heart problems in adults stemming from drugs to treat attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, the WSJ reports. While a study author notes the research doesn’t prove the drugs are safe, it could — especially when […]

MEwens
Gene Therapy Advance: Researchers reported online in the New England Journal of Medicine that they saw success in using gene therapy to treat hemophilia B, with four of six patients making enough of a crucial blood-clotting factor to skip their usual protein injections and the other two requiring injections less frequently, the WSJ […]

MEwens
Once again, the health-care sector was one of the bright spots in the monthly employment report.
As the WSJ reports, nonfarm payrolls rose by 120,000 people in November as the unemployment rate, calculated using a separate survey, fell to 8.6% from 9.0% in October.
Here’s the full report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Private employers […]

MEwens
Hospitals that use a computerized medical-information tool to help doctors make decisions at the point of care have better patient outcomes than those who don’t, according to a new study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
Researchers at Harvard University examined data for Medicare beneficiaries at 1,017 hospitals between 2004 and 2006 as […]

MEwens
There’s a lot of concern today that paying fees to medical providers for each service may lead to unnecessary care. But there’s no easy way to replace the massively complicated fee-for-service system.
One of the fashionable suggestions for new-style payment is “bundling”, in which providers typically get a set amount that is supposed to […]

MEwens
Doctors: they’re just like us!
General web browsers like Google and Yahoo are behind only professional journals and colleagues as a source of information physicians frequently use to diagnose and treat patients, according to a survey of more than 300 doctors.
The survey, from Wolters Kluwer Health, covered a sample of American Medical Association members, […]

MEwens
We wince when journalists are called “content providers,” so we sympathize with a perspective piece in the current New England Journal of Medicine bemoaning “the new language of medicine.”
The two physician-authors, Pamela Hartzband and Jerome Groopman, do not wish to be called “providers,” thankyouverymuch. Nor do they want their patients to be called […]

MEwens
A new online tool to prepare patients for surgery and other invasive procedures aims to reduce the stress and anxiety that accompanies many medical decisions.
Boston-based Health Dialog today launched HD Care Compass, a web and mobile site with patient guides on what to expect before, during and after seven major procedures, including cardiac […]

MEwens
Your doctor may secretly think you’re making too many office visits and getting too many drugs and tests.
A survey of primary-care doctors conducted in 2009 finds that 42% of the 627 respondents believed the patients in their own practice were getting too much care. Just 6% of doctors believed their patients were getting […]