Physicians Practice - October 2008 - (Page 12)

LETTERS If I were a presidential candidate looking to reform healthcare, elimination of fraud and abuse would be my first priority. FIRST THINGS FIRST IDEAS FOR CHANGE I’m just an old family practitioner, with additional boards in occupational and environmental medicine. I read the July/August 2008 article on healthcare reform, “Voting For Change,” and I can’t believe that all your pundits and know-it-all intellectuals didn’t hone in on the obvious question: Why have the costs of the current system spiraled so drastically? Yes, you mention defensive medicine, inappropriate testing without taking a history and doing a physical, patient indifference with third-party payers, inefﬁciencies, and errors. But how about Medicare and Medicaid fraud? The Government Accounting Ofﬁce (GAO) came out with conservative estimates of $15 billion, then $50 billion, and most likely today, well over $100 billion in fraud costs. This includes malfeasance with ﬁscal intermediaries, equipment suppliers, pharmaceutical distributors, laboratories, and practitioners. Only a fraction of the perpetrators are pursued and adequately punished — crime does pay in healthcare. If I were a presidential candidate looking to reform healthcare, elimination of fraud and abuse would be my first priority, and I would tie it to “bounty hunter” incentives. —Leonard Kreisler, MD Las Vegas, Nev. Upon reading your comprehensive article “Healthcare Reform: Voting For Change,” I was struck by a significant omission common throughout the debate on cost. While your article bewails the high cost of care and does note the unsustainability of Medicare, you ignore the inﬂationary effect of having government as the primary purchaser of healthcare. It is axiomatic that we get more of what is subsidized and less of what is taxed. The numerous and hidden taxes on physicians have certainly reduced their supply. Why is it not equally evident that the rising infusions of government cash subsidize higher prices, giving us cost inﬂation? This is basic economics. Chip away at these lesser causes all you like, but if Americans do not gain the will to phase out these destructive programs, we are guaranteed to accelerate toward even more expensive nationalized care. —Pat Conrad, MD Niceville, Fla. Dr. Steven F. Hotze’s comment that “The only thing that will save medicine is a good dose of free enterprise. Government regulations, entitlement programs, and HMOs are leading us down the road to socialized medicine” demonstrates a remarkable understanding of economic science. He should be listened to. Many have forgotten the global experiment to see whether Adam Smith’s free market theories would indeed be superior to the centrally-directed theories of Karl Marx. Unwittingly, two great countries utilized these opposing theories for several decades. They both worked for a while, even though Marx’s notions required a bit more gunpowder to keep folks in shape and to keep them from escaping a burdensome, unworkable system. However, after three or four generations, the experiment’s ﬁnal result was evident with the crumbling of the Berlin Wall. Karl Marx’s theories simply did not work. It is amazing that the same country that advocated for Adam Smith is now toying around with the failed notions of Marx and his friends. They will not work and cannot work, as has already been painfully demonstrated by a worldwide experiment. Yet there are OUR MISSION Helping physicians manage their practices more efﬁciently, leading to improved patient care. P U B L I S H I N G S TA F F VICE PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER Ken Karpay kkarpay@physicianspractice.com GENERAL MANAGER Katherine Hermann khermann@physicianspractice.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Pamela L. 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Copyright © 2008 by CMP Healthcare Media LLC. Single copies $10; annual subscription $56. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Send address changes to: Physicians Practice, c/o CMPMedica, 330 Boston Post Road, Darien, CT 06820; or send by email to wdingle@cmp.com. 12 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | OCTOBER 2008 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://www.PhysiciansPractice.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - October 2008

Physicians Practice - October 2008 Contents Another Reason to Go Cash-Only? Letters How ’Bout Them Gas Prices? Second Opinion: Oh, Canada! Noteworthy Cover Story: Fixing the Leaks: How to Tighten Your Money Spigot Navigating a Lawsuit Ask the Experts The Administrators Desk: What’s Your Mission? EMR: Help or Hindrance? Dealing with Dr. Dangerous E-Mail Abuse Primer The Road to EMR Interoperability Don’t Let Staff Costs Stifle Profits Coding Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - October 2008

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