Ba-rocking the Health Care System
Collen Murrary
Issue date: 1/28/09 Section: Health
by COLLEEN MURRAY
Health Editor
Running on a platform of change, Barack Obama vowed to transform health care. During the Inaugural Address, Obama stated the need to "raise health care's quality and lower its cost." So how will the president go about providing better health care for Americans?
The Obama administration wants the health care system to embrace modern technology. Many medical records are still kept on paper rather than electronically. Obama's health care plan, found on his website, points out that along with saving money, switching to electronic records would be useful "to coordinate care, measure quality, or reduce medical errors."
Another aspect of the plan is to update the health sector of the United States and expand the use of IT services. Obama has committed $10 billion dollars a year for the next five years to this purpose. He anticipates the opposition many people feel about spending $50 billion dollars. To counter this, he provides evidence that $77 billion would be saved each year through this proposal.
Another key section of the Obama-Biden health care plan is "prevention and proven disease management programs." Disease management programs are to help people who have chronic conditions to receive better care. Chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart problems, are a huge problem today with "over 133 million Americans" suffering from one or more of these diseases. The president hopes that through prevention and proper care, such diseases can be managed efficiently.
Quality and lower cost is what the president is working towards. He is asking all hospitals and doctors to "report measures of health care costs and quality, including data on preventable medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired infections, and disparities in care and costs" to the public. In addition, medical professionals will be required to "collect, analyze and report health care quality" for people who are typically underserved. Although no specific policies are mentioned, the plan outlines several goals including an improved relationship between doctor and patient, and less need for malpractice lawsuits.
Health Editor
Running on a platform of change, Barack Obama vowed to transform health care. During the Inaugural Address, Obama stated the need to "raise health care's quality and lower its cost." So how will the president go about providing better health care for Americans?
The Obama administration wants the health care system to embrace modern technology. Many medical records are still kept on paper rather than electronically. Obama's health care plan, found on his website, points out that along with saving money, switching to electronic records would be useful "to coordinate care, measure quality, or reduce medical errors."
Another aspect of the plan is to update the health sector of the United States and expand the use of IT services. Obama has committed $10 billion dollars a year for the next five years to this purpose. He anticipates the opposition many people feel about spending $50 billion dollars. To counter this, he provides evidence that $77 billion would be saved each year through this proposal.
Another key section of the Obama-Biden health care plan is "prevention and proven disease management programs." Disease management programs are to help people who have chronic conditions to receive better care. Chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart problems, are a huge problem today with "over 133 million Americans" suffering from one or more of these diseases. The president hopes that through prevention and proper care, such diseases can be managed efficiently.
Quality and lower cost is what the president is working towards. He is asking all hospitals and doctors to "report measures of health care costs and quality, including data on preventable medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired infections, and disparities in care and costs" to the public. In addition, medical professionals will be required to "collect, analyze and report health care quality" for people who are typically underserved. Although no specific policies are mentioned, the plan outlines several goals including an improved relationship between doctor and patient, and less need for malpractice lawsuits.
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