This week, we speak with Joe and Terry Graedon, whose radio program The People’s Pharmacy, provides patients a wealth of up to date, cutting edge health information, information patients might find difficult getting anywhere else, even from their doctors. Joe Graedon has a Masters in Pharmacology, and Terry Graedon, has a PhD in Medical Anthropology. […] The post Getting Better Health Care – The People’s Pharmacy for Drug and Other Health Information (part 1) appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Dr. Mary Catherine Beach describes fundamental problems and solutions in doctor-patient communication. Dr. Beach is Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Core Faculty, Berman Institute of Bioethics and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins University. Her research interests include physician-patient relationships and communication, respect, bioethics, health […] The post Getting Better Health Care – The fundamentals...

Dr. Mary Catherine Beach describes fundamental problems and solutions in doctor-patient communication. Dr. Beach is Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Core Faculty, Berman Institute of Bioethics and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins University. Her research interests include physician-patient relationships and communication, respect, bioethics, health […] The post Getting Better Health Care – The fundamentals...

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has published its 2011 State of Health Care Quality Report examining quality data from health plans that cover 118 million Americans. NCQA President Margaret O’Kane joins us to report on the findings. The NCQA bases its reports on objective quality indicators reported by over 1,000 health plans across […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Health care quality in America is improving appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Patient education is critical to successful medical outcomes. Mark Becker, pediatrician and founder of Vivacare, a company that makes patient education material available through doctors’ websites, describes how the Internet can be used to better educate patients about their condition and treatment. Patients need to be empowered to care for themselves. We spend $2.4 trillion […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Electronic ways to improve patient education appeared first on...

A trusted patient advocate can help people manage the complexities of our health care system. Anne Llewellyn, Editor in Chief of Dorland Healthcare, describes what patient advocates are and how they help people navigate a complex and fragmented health care system. Patient advocates are people who assist patients. Often, patient advocates have a background in […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Working with a patient advocate (part 2) appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

A trusted patient advocate can help people manage the complexities of our health care system. Anne Llewellyn, Editor in Chief of Dorland Healthcare, describes what patient advocates are and how they help people navigate a complex and fragmented health care system. Patient advocates are people who assist patients. Often, patient advocates have a background in […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Working with a patient advocate (part 1) appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Patient Centered Medical Homes are a proven way to reduce the cost of health care while improving health care quality. Dr. Paul Grundy, Global Director, IBM Healthcare Transformation and the current President of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, describes how patient centered medical homes provides comprehensive primary care to people of all ages, broadening access […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Patient Centered Medical Homes can help solve our health care problems...

Patient Centered Medical Homes are a proven way to reduce the cost of health care while improving health care quality. Dr. Paul Grundy, Global Director, IBM Healthcare Transformation and the current President of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, describes how patient centered medical homes provides comprehensive primary care to people of all ages, broadening access […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Patient Centered Medical Homes can help solve our health care problems...

Our medical care system can accomplish miraculous things. Surgeons can operate on the vessels of the heart, clearing blockages and installing appliances to keep the vessels open. We have new medicines and new treatments designed to catch disease early or prevent it altogether. But do these miracle treatments do anything of value? Do people live […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Being wary of treatments that just don’t help appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Our medical care system can accomplish miraculous things. Surgeons can operate on the vessels of the heart, clearing blockages and installing appliances to keep the vessels open. But do these miracle treatments do anything of value? Do people live longer or better? Are we getting our money’s worth? In part one of a two part […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Paying for unnecessary care appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The basic principles of economics explain why our health care system is in distress. Insurance, tax laws, and lack of competition contribute to the problem. In this second part of a 2-part series, we discuss solutions to our health care crisis based on an understanding of the underlying economic principles. We are joined again by […] The post Getting Better Health Care – How basic economics informs solutions for the health care crisis appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The basic principles of economics apply to all sorts of systems and decisions, including those of our health care system. In this first part of a 2-part series, we discuss basic economic principles and how those principles apply to the U.S. health care system. Our guest is Dr. Robert Whaples, Professor and Chair of Economics […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Basic economics of health care appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Patients don’t go to doctors to be abused by mean-spirited physicians. Physicians didn’t go into medicine because they don’t care about patients. Yet too often patients may have a contentious relationship with a doctor, and vice-versa. Dr. Steve Shama, a national speaker and retired physician who dedicates himself to helping others communicate and connect in […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Dealing with difficult physician-patient relationships appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

There’s near universal agreement that our health care system is in crisis, that it costs too much, and that the quality is not what it could be. Our guest today offers a different perspective on the problem, writing, “From a policy perspective, the wrong question was asked: ‘How do we make healthcare cheaper?’ The question […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Is there a better way to improve the health of all Americans? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

There’s near universal agreement that our health care system is in crisis, that it costs too much, and that the quality is not what it could be. Our guest today offers a different perspective on the problem, writing, “From a policy perspective, the wrong question was asked: ‘How do we make healthcare cheaper?’ The question […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Have we been asking the wrong question? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The U.S. medical system is characterized by a host of financial arrangements—Medicare, Medicaid, HMO’s and various other forms of insurance—that interlope into the physician-patient relationship. Dr. Richard Amerling— Director of Outpatient Dialysis at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and a Director […] The post Getting Better Health Care – The Physicians’ Declaration of Independence appeared first...

Can top-down solutions—like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)— solve the problems in the U.S. medical care system? Dr. Steve Feldman continues the conversation with Dr. Richard Amerling, Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Amerling points out, with plenty of personal experience to back it up, that socialized medical […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Socialized medicine may not be the best solution appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Medical care quality is not good enough. Medical care costs are too high. What’s wrong with the system? On this week’s show, we talk with a physician who believes the heart of the problem in the U.S. medical care system is a deteriorating physician-patient relationship. Show host Dr. Steve Feldman speaks with Dr. Richard Amerling, […] The post Getting Better Health Care – The Heart of the U.S. Medical Care Problem appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Last week, we discussed how economic forces play a central role in how health care is delivered. We don’t want to pay doctors and hospitals for giving more care; we certainly don’t want to pay them for giving less care, either. Ideally, we need a payment model that pays doctors and hospitals for giving better […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Understanding pay-for-performance systems appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Economic forces drive behavior in the general economy. These same forces affect how health care is delivered, except in health care, there’s a third party (the insurer) paying for the care. What happens in health care is largely driven by these economic forces. Understanding those forces is critical to figuring out how to make our […] The post Getting Better Health Care – The economics of health care appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Last week, we began a discussion of health services research with John Piette, Ph.D., Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan and Senior Research Associate at the Ann Arbor VA Center for Practice Management and Outcomes Research. On today’s show, Dr. Piette describes the problem of “poor adherence,” how patients don’t take their […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Patients only take half their prescribed medication! appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Researchers are investigating how health care is delivered in order to come up with better ways for patients to be treated. The field, called health services research, began with the finding that in different locations, patients would be treated very differently, with resulting differences in costs and outcomes. People realized that this variation probably means […] The post Getting Better Health Care – The study of how health care is delivered appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The interaction of a doctor and a patient involves two human beings. Doctors are people who have feelings, biases, and varying beliefs. Doctors bring these characteristics to the patient-doctor relationship. On today’s show, Dr. Feldman talks with Dr. T. Keith Vaughan, a private practicing dermatologist in Puyallup, Washington. Dr. Vaughan is a graduate of the […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Doctors are human beings appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Health care systems vary in who pays for the care and who delivers the care. Right now, the U.S. health care system consists of a patchwork of providers, with bandaids in place to try to fix the resulting problems. Dr. William Hsiao, Professor of Economics at the Harvard School of Public Health, has studied health […] The post Getting Better Health Care – Vermont’s single payer plan, a way to solve our health care problems? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.