Stimulus funds lag health woes - South Florida Business Journal:

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That’s the view of the eight-membetr panel of industry and medical experts who were invited by the Soutgh Florida Business Journal to share their views of whatthe $787 billionn federal stimulus package means to the health care sector. What emergec was a broad discussion of how stimulus legislatio n is just one piece of changew needed in an industryy that has run financiallyg amok due to an overrelianceon specialists, shortfallds in information technology and patients who are undereducated.
The Congressional Budgetg Office has projected that tota national spending on health care could hit 48 percent of gross domestic product by 2050 if left To solve this problem will takemore though, in the short term. The Obama administration’sz $59 billion for health care stimulus spendingincludesz $19 billion for electronic health care Starting in 2011, doctorws who can show meaningfulk use of electronic medical recordds will get incentives – and those who don’tt will get declining Medicare But, the old-fashioned general practitioner may also have a big role.
Lind Quick, president of the , said health care reformj legislation that coincides with the stimulus calls for individualsx to have a home location or a primaryycare provider. She said that allows for “w community location close to home and getting more done in a actually high clinicaltechnology setting.” in turn, will also translater into a less costly location, the panelists said. Rache l Sapoznik, CEO of , “The reason I believe in the last 25 years of seeingb health care costs rise dramaticallg is we have moved away from the primarg care physician knowing the patienytto specialists.
” Patients go from specialist to specialist to get each ailment treated, but an overview of theie condition and family history is George Foyo, executive VP and chiegf administrative officer at , said: “Piggybacking on primary care is absolutely All these specialties are adding thousand s and thousands of dollars.” One problem is that specialistd tend to overdo tests becauser they are so worried about legal liabilitt issues, he said. Dr. Tony Prieto, a familuy practitioner and president of the Broward CountyMedicalk Association, said reimbursement issues for tests done in his office also frustratde him. A hospital might get $2,00p0 for a test from but he can onlyget $200.
“o don’t think it’s anything that’s going to work unless we use some common sense,” he said. Foyo said primart care physicians historically put an emphasis on healtgprevention efforts, but the lack of it thess days is contributing to an epidemic of diabetew and heart issues. Baptist Health, which is well know for hospitals in Kendalland Homestead, is pushing forwarxd with outpatient centers – and even venturiny into Broward County. One reason is emergency rooms are full, and providingg care there is more costly than at an outpatient center. “Rather than have patients cometo us, the hospitalsa are going out to Foyo said.
Florida’s 51 nonprofit community healthj centers aregetting $28 million in competitive grants unded the stimulus legislation, which will also keep patientds out of expensive hospital settings for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi highlightexd that during an April visit to a communituy health center in Hollywood that will get $1.5 milliob to open a satellite health center in West One of the advantages for these types of centeras is that they are funded with the assumption that thei doors will be open to all who come, which is importangt because of the number of uninsures South Floridians, including undocumentede foreigners, Quick said. Dr.
meet Bill Gates Mark Sterling, administrative partner at the law firm of in said electronic medicalrecords (EMR) fall undere the category of “shovel-ready” projects in the world of stimulus meaning the technology exists and can be adoptedx rapidly to put money in the