April Practice News

National health care reform is back in the news. Once again we hear one of the major criticisms of our current system - a lack of value. We spend the most on health care yet our health outcomes lag behind most of the other western countries. As Washington again grapples with the huge challenge of reform, what can we do to improve the quality of health care in our community?

Let's start by applying the well defined standards of quality care to major providers of health care - physicians and hospitals. I have attached a link to my recent comments about our hospital component. In addition, there are links on www.junctionmedical.com which enable you to compare hospital performance outcomes (clinical and patient satisfaction).

Office based physician specific outcomes are a bit more difficult to access. Yet, measuring, reporting, and improving outcomes is an integral part of a Patient Centered Medical Home. With the capability of our electronic health record, I am currently tracking our practice results on 8 important clinical measures (blood pressure control, rates of immunizations, diabetes and heart disease management, mammography rates, etc) and plan to share some initial results by July (that will be 6 months of data). Unlike most physician performance reports that are generated by insurance companies and only include those patients that are covered by that particular plan, my data will be based on practice wide experience. No personal identifiers will be used so private information is not compromised.

Marilyn and I appreciate the support you have given us. Junction Medical continues to grow mainly due to the word of mouth recommendations by our current patients. Thank you.

April is humor month so here is my doctor-lawyer joke.

A patient came to see her family doctor after her oncologist delivered the bad news she had only 6 months to live. "What should I do?" she asked. "I'd marry a tax attorney - he can make 6 months seem like an eternity".