Blog and News

A key technocratic gimmick of ObamaCare, the Accountable Care Organization, is rolling out now — but the wheels are already starting to come off. Critics warn that, instead of helping doctors and patients to make individualized treatment decisions, ACOs will empower government bureaucrats to consolidate health-care providers into top-down organizations and dictate how care is delivered — at greater cost. 

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Doc4PatientCare's Dr. Richard Armstrong has written an excellent opinion piece for The Washington Times. In it, he discusses how the Obama Administration is attempting to sell the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) to doctors with the promise that it will enhance physician autonomy and liberty. 

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When the Obama Administration released their proposed regulations for Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), the response was muted particularly by organizations that already exists and served as the model when Congress dreamed up the ACO provisions of ObamaCare. Existing ACOs, such as Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, Geisinger Health System and Intermountain Healthcare were hailed as the paradigm of what healthcare would like under the ACO pilot program in ObamaCare. 

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Welcome to D4PC "Morning Rounds", your daily review of healthcare news and information from Washington, DC and around the nation. These briefings will keep you up to date on recent developments and our effort to replace the PPACA with patient-centered reforms that protect the doctor-patient relationship and preserve individual freedom of choice.

"A Report Card for Doctors", Pauline Chen, MD in the NYT

D4PC Opinion:

Good article which starts to get at the importance of the unintended consequences of "pay-for-performance". The distinction the article fails to make is that while financial reward for quality is a good idea---it needs to come via the recipient of the service, not from a centrally controlled 'big-brother" who determines what quality is. We contend that until the recipient of the service is also the one financially responsible, "value and quality" calculations are going to continued to be distorted.

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"A Doctor Exposes Obama's Healthcare Fallacy", Paul Hsieh, MD in Townhall.com

"At root, ACO supporters presume that government bureaucrats are better at determining best medical and business practices than the physicians and hospitals whose own reputations and profitability are at stake...Premier medical centers such as the Mayo Clinic excel because their doctors and administrators are constantly striving to innovate. To succeed, they require the freedom to adopt successful new methods (and reject unsuccessful ones) based on their particular requirements and goals. They—not the government—must decide whether and when to offer new medical procedures such as PET-CT scans for detecting early cancers or to invest in new electronic medical records systems. Smaller medical practices require the same freedom to prosper and thrive."

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"Death by Regulation", NCPA.org

"As early as 2005, hospitals and clinics complained to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt that drug manufacturers and distributors were often out of certain drugs. The problem has been getting progressively worse ever since. Industry insiders point to numerous causes of the problem, including the fact that the generic drug market may be inherently more volatile than the market for brand-name drugs. Imperfect competition may also be a factor. Others point to supply chain problems. Then there is government regulatory policy".

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"Why Can't We Fix Medicare Once and For All?, Geoff Colvin in money.cnn.com

"We can try to fix Medicare in two ways. One is a proven winner, the other a proven loser. The stakes could scarcely be higher -- and right now we're betting on the loser". 

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