Monday, June 8, 2009

GROSS REALITY

Is coming to www.americaswebradio.com June 24, 2009 5P ET, lock your children in their rooms, put the dogs and cats out, and prepare for Gross Reality like you've never heard before on any radio station. Gross Reality will dive into areas never discussed before nor with the authority to be discussed. We DARE you to tell your family, friends (enemies), neighbors or strangers about what is coming the America's Web Radio - GROSS REALITY.

No special equipment will be needed to listen and watch but we do suggest either some thing strong to drink at hand or aspirin.

Please be advised the content of Gross Reality is not necessarily the views or thoughts of America's Web Radio on-the-other-hand we may agree with it all. This show is designed to help us all. Tune in EVERY Wednesday at 5P ET right before Bold Ventures.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Kathy Ireland on America's Web Radio

We invite you to tune in tomorrow to Parent's Rule with Pat Montgomery as she interviews the beautiful model and mom Kathy Ireland.

At 8A don't forget Good Morning with E. D. Hill and coming June 24th, the GROSS REALITY!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Healthcare Reform by Dr. Elaina George

An honest conversation on healthcare reform, insurance companies & the doctor/patient relationship

Elaina F. George, MD

www.peachtreeentcenter.com

Now that President Obama has put heath care reform on the agenda, I am really afraid that the needs of patients and their physicians will continue to be ignored. I believe that good medical care is a right and not a privilege. However, the drive for true reform has been hijacked by the insurance and pharmaceutical industry.

I have seen a disturbing trend in medicine since I started practicing medicine in 1998. It seems to be getting worse. I am an ear, nose and throat surgeon in solo private practice in Atlanta, GA. I have a unique perspective on the health care system. I truly believe that the voices of average physicians need to be heard.

Imagine going to an ER after sustaining an injury to your face, sitting for hours finally being seen by an ER physician. You are given a CT scan, but not physically examined or treated. Instead you are told to see an ENT specialist and then paying for the privilege. Or what if you have a nose bleed and go to the ER 3 times over 2 days. The first time you are not even seen by an ER doctor. The second time you get a nasal decongestant but no IV fluid. The 3rd time you get your nose packed and told to follow up with an ENT doctor in 48 hours to have the packing removed. You call the ENT doctor on call and you are given an appointment in one month for the packing removal. These are two examples of patients who have presented to my office over the past 2 weeks.

I joined a large single specialty group practice when I left residency. In order to practice medicine and not just be a 'mill' I opened my own practice. I stopped taking HMOs because of the restrictions they placed on my ability to take care of my patients. When our system is compared to a system that has duel medical system like the Caribbean island of Antigua, the cost of medicine is controlled because the patient has a choice. Essentially, those who want to can use the public health system, but those who want to see a private physician are free to do so. The interesting difference is that people with private insurance tend to pay the physician directly and then get reimbursed directly from the insurance company. This has the effect of keeping costs down. The physician gets paid their fee at the time of service and the patient gets a portion back from the insurance company. There is no pressure for doctors to raise their fees because they are getting what they charge at the time of service. The costs associated with paperwork and re-billing denials are removed. The patient gets a discount of 40-80% as a check back from the insurance company and there are no hidden charges or cost shifting.

When the insurance company is the middle man there is a drastic decrease in what the physician is paid. For example, in a former HMO contract I was getting 18 cents on the dollar. I have since negotiated better contracts and now average about 55 cents on the dollar. However, In order to make up the short fall, the pressure has been to either see more patients or raise my prices. If you contrast this with a specialty that does not take insurance it is easy to see what has happened to the cost of care for the patient without insurance. For example, in plastic surgery - the price for a rhinoplasty or a face lift has essentially remained unchanged over the years because they are strictly fee for service.

In short, the cost of medicine has risen because of the insurance companies - the premiums paid have not gone to doctors, but instead has gone to the insurance company in CEO bonuses and investments in software and/or gatekeeper physicians and nurses who get bonuses for rationing healthcare by denying necessary procedures and tests. I can give plenty of examples of necessary medical care denied to my patients by a nurse making clinical decisions. The insurance companies have developed an elaborate system designed to pay as little and as late as possible (over 1 year after service in some cases). There is little oversight or regulation of this industry, and physicians have little recourse. For example, even if I get pre-authorization to perform a procedure. The insurance company can deny payment after the surgery is done and I cannot bill the patient because of the denial even if it is arbitrary. This has the effect of poisoning the doctor patient relationship.

There has been a disconnection of the doctor patient relationship for many reasons. Some of the most important are:

1. The rise of insurance companies as the middle man has increased the cost of medicine by rationing health care and limiting access (through rising premiums). This will get worse under a universal healthcare system. Insurance companies will wield even more power over access to health care. They stand to gain the most by having more people paying premiums. Health care will likely be rationed unless there are provisions in place to assure that: a) what is "medically necessary" is determined by the physician; and b) once pre-authorized by the insurance company, the medical treatment can not be arbitrarily denied.

2. The reimbursement to physicians has dropped every year since I left residency. That has led physicians to increase patient volume and add extenders such as physician assistants and medical assistants. This has been one of the biggest blows to the quality of health care and the doctor patient relationship because it has severely limited the time the doctor has to spend with his or her patient.

3. Disease has become a big business. Instead of promoting wellness and prevention, the cost has been driven up by managing chronic diseases. We are prescribing more medication, but our patients are sicker.

4. Direct marketing by big Pharma to patients has driven demand for expensive but not necessarily more effective or safe prescription medication.

The above mentioned problems must be addressed to insure that good healthcare is not permanently disabled.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Kathy Ireland, That's Right

Will be on www.americaswebradio.com and www.radiosandysprings.com June 6! Listen and her all about her new book and what she's doing these days.

$1895 Chicken Coop Winner

Pamela Mc, from Elmira, Or won the $1895 Chicken Coop custom built by Chicken Coop USA. She proves it only takes ONE ticket to win and we congratulate her. It is our plan to immediately start another raffle, this one proved to be fun and I believe all enjoyed it so let "do it again". The Chicken Whisperer is doing a great job and we're having a lot of fun with the Whisperer, and all the folkds from coast-to-coast that are involved in backyard poultry. It is amazing how many people there are and the response. Andy is setting up Meeting Groups across the country and we wish him the best!

Congratulations also goes out to the City of Roswell Georgia that since they had NO law against backyard poultry they'd make it legal - dah am I missing something here. Politicians - if it isn't broke let's break it so we can spend tax payers money to fix something that isn't broken. Now I have a headache and need a glass of water.

If you haven't tuned into our gardening shows, joined our newsletter or Kate's blog shame on you. No actually you're missing a lot of good information and fun to. On the Master Gardners Hour we talked Green Roofs now there's a tree in your attic. It was interesting and certainly away to keep cost down. More good stuff coming so tune to www.americaswebradio.com for the best in chat radio any time you want it!