Managed Care - June 2008 - (Page 13)

LETTERS continued from page 6 over the CEO’s income is right up there with Enron’s. The sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula is a farce that needs a fix every year. This time Congress only deferred the consequences. The long-term effect for the nation in underpaying physicians is increased specialists, refusal to see Medicaid and Medicare patients, and lack of access for all. The nation needs a complete solution to health care, not patches. One thought is to go to a single standard setter for policies and to institute uniform claims practices. This would reduce the variation among policies and reimbursement, lowering the cost of providing care. By eliminating the waste in the system caused by billing and reimbursement practices, we could increase coverage by 5 percent to 10 percent. The problem is that there are too many vested interests in the current system to change. The government should get out of the insurance business but retain the power to set minimum coverage and claim processing arrangements. When I entered the health care field nearly 40 years ago, physicians were among the wealthier individuals in the community. All providers were expected to share in the care of the poor. What health insurance there was, was often a highdeductible indemnity plan. But we were able to make it and continue to add to the technology and knowledge base. We have gotten better at rendering care, but the influx of money into the system has not resolved some long-standing problems. For example, we can keep a person on dialysis for 10 years or more, but we have not resolved the issues with tissue rejection that might allow a person to be free of the machine. Arguing among ourselves over who gets to keep the profits seems wrong. R. W. Sorrell Sr., MBA Senior Financial Analyst Adena Health System Chillicothe, Ohio Send your letters to: MANAGED CARE • Letters 780 Township Line Road Yardley, PA 19067 Fax: (267) 685-2966 E-mail: editors_mail@managedcaremag.com Letters may be edited for space and/or clarity. Try Our New Digital Edition How to Use the Digital Edition To navigate through the issue, use the control bar at the top of the screen. Turn the pages as you would do with the print edition. To access more help click on the red question mark in the bar. Opens the Tools menu. View a list of all articles. Zoom in and out on the current page. Click the word “Zoom” to open the zoom configuration window. Switch to single-page view. Open the magnify window. Navigate to the previous or next page. Navigate to the cover or back page. Search the full text of the issue for a word or phrase. Print pages. Save an offline version to your computer. Save the direct link to an article to bookmark or email Morgan Stanley Health Care Payor Index June 2006–May 2008 Care M A N A G E D ALSO: JUNE 2008 The digital edition of MANAGED CARE is now available. Readers see a complete copy of an issue on their computer screens, with the added ability to search through every single word in the issue. With the digital edition, you can: HARD TIMES Use Them to Make Your Plan Stronger PAGE 24 Ov s ..21 tin ?.. ta ed e S rib Ar resc p er You can receive Managed Care’s digital edition every month free by registering here: http://www.managedcaremag.com/digital A Conversation With Barbara Starfield, MD 33 Payers Want Antismoking Programs 40 Slow Going for Clinical Decision Support 44 Rapid Access to Back Pain Therapy 47 WWW.MANAGEDCAREMAG.COM SIGN UP NOW to receive an alert when each new issue is available: http://www.managedcaremag.com/digital • Click on any URL anywhere in the magazine and go directly to that Web page • Click on the title of any article on the cover or in the table of contents and go directly to that article • Search for any string of characters • Make and save notes with the article that you are reading • Instantly e-mail a link to any article to an associate • Get more information about advertised products by clicking on an ad • Save the magazine file to your desktop for offline reading • Print any or all pages JUNE 2008 / MANAGED CARE 13 http://www.managedcaremag.com/digital http://WWW.MANAGEDCAREMAG.COM http://www.managedcaremag.com/digital

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managed Care - June 2008

Managed Care - June 2008 Editor’s Memo Contents Viewpoint Letters News and Commentary Legislation & Regulation Medication Management Compensation Monitor Plans Chart Course in Rough Waters A Conversation With Barbara Starfield, MD Smoke Signals from Payers Slow Going for Clinical Decision Support Back Pain and Physical Therapy Formulary Files PlanWatch Outlook

Managed Care - June 2008

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