25 May
Wordless Wednesday: let the commencement commence
Archive for ‘Osteopathic Medicine’
9 May
Fighting the good fight
by Barb Boose
Beginning today through June 18, the DMU Library will host an exhibition of the U.S. National Library of Medicine titled “Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine.” Part of our library’s commemoration of the Civil War’s sesquicentennial, the exhibition looks at the men and women who served as surgeons and nurses during the war and explores how their service challenged the prescribed notions of race and gender. The exhibition was developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, with research assistance from The Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
26 Apr
Health care fix: “smoke the whole pack”
Finally, just a few days ago, I at last managed to complete the last class for my master’s of public health degree here at DMU. This explains why I haven’t posted in a while – it’s been tough working on two professional degrees at once. I figured that I ought to make it up to you guys, of course, so I decided to put my new degree to use in service of the populace. Specifically, I’ve decided to single-handedly fix the health care system. It was a tough feat, of course – the problem is that insurance companies exist so that patients can seek necessary health care when it’s really important, but too many patients make excessive use of these services and drive up the costs for everyone else. Fortunately, after extensive deliberation, I’ve finally identified the root of the problem so as to open the door for a definitive solution.
See, under the current system, patients usually pay a co-pay or deductible (an amount people have to pay before their insurance company covers their medical expenses) that’s meant to be low enough that it doesn’t stop people from seeking necessary care, but high enough that a patient must think twice before going to the doctor without a good reason. If this disincentive didn’t exist, patients would visit their doctor for every last ache and pain and generate a financial burden for whomever picks up the bill. Of course, the question that often gets asked is whether insurance companies use these sorts of plans to promote judicious use of services, or just to pad their own pockets. Furthermore, when financial barriers prevent patients from seeking genuinely necessary care, easily treatable conditions are ignored until they become complicated and expensive. So the question that has been unanswered is this: How do we encourage patients not to overuse health care without creating perverse incentives or providing sub-par care? After much careful thought and reflection, I believe I’ve found the answer. I call it the “Smoke the Whole Pack” plan.
