Health care reform not so easy to derail
Posted by Nikhil Bhojwani on November 22, 2010 in Uncategorized
Prediction 1: Despite all the beating of drums we do not think there will be any major legislative changes between now and 2012. controlling the house but not the senate and the White House does not give Republicans sufficient clout to fundamentally change the bill it is politically advantageous for the Republicans to keep the Democrats on the defensive on health care through the 2012 election cycle Prediction 2: Administrative proceedings with implementation of the big milestones will continue though there will be considerable friction and much name calling some of the thorniest issues will be kicked into… Read More
If you’re on Medicare – don’t fall sick
Posted by Nikhil Bhojwani on November 17, 2010 in Uncategorized
A friend of mine pointed out some shocking data from a report released today from the Office of Inspector General. More than a quarter of Medicare hospitalizations result in adverse events, half of them “serious” (meaning prolonged hospital stay, permanent harm, need for life sustaining intervention, death). Strikingly, almost half these situations arise are preventable. In other words they are the result of medical errors, sub-standard care, lack of patient monitoring and assessment and hospital acquired infections! According to the study, these cost the taxpayer over $4 billion in 2008 (which is when the sample was taken from). Here’s a… Read More