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The Untreated Cancer of Health Informatics Leads to Painful and Unrestrained Growth
By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS
A few days ago, Daniel Palestrant MD, Founder of par8o & SERMO, compared the American healthcare system to a patient with cancer.
The clinically blunt article includes a graphic photo of a fresh tumor the size of a cantaloupe, labeled “AMA.” It is appropriately titled, “I Know Cancer When I See It.”
I believe him. What’s more, Dr. Palestrant shows no respect for cancerous growth in healthcare. That’s Hippocratic cool.
http://par8o.com/wordpress/i-know-cancer-when-i-see-it/
I think we all know which presidential candidate’s think tank is to blame for selfishly stimulating metastasis of their harmful information. Like the American Medical Association, the ADA unwittingly developed informatics cancer years ago. Now, a similar, energy-sapping tumor is becoming increasingly difficult for stoic ADA officials to quietly schlepp around.
My Dental Analogy
If one replaces every mention of “AMA” in Dr. Palestrant’s excerpt below with “ADA,” every “CPT® code” with “CDT® code” and every “physician” with “dentist,” his analogy becomes strikingly similar to one I wore out long ago, but without an ugly photo (My apology to Dr. Palestrant):
1. Divert resources – The ADA’s CDT system creates a maze of payment infrastructure and rules that diverts resources to administration and makes transparency impossible.
2. Fool the immune system – The ADA has fooled the American public into believing they represent the opinion of America’s dentists.
3. Self perpetuate – Like a cancer, the ADA perpetuates itself through special interest lobbying, and most importantly, by updating the CDT codes as frequently as possible and forcing the entire dentalcare system to use them.
Assessment
If it weren’t for CDT® copyright royalties, ADA members’ dues would double – undoubtedly causing members to naturally demand better accountability to their patients’ welfare instead of HIT goals even Newt Gingrich abandoned a few months ago.
He’s a smart politician – arguably smarter than dentistry’s embarrassed leaders who own autographed photos of him.
Conclusion
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Filed under: Information Technology, Pruitt's Platform, Quality Initiatives | Tagged: ADA, AMA, CDT, CPT, D. Kellus Pruitt, D. Kellus Pruitt DDS, Daniel Palestrant, dental eHRs, Healthcare Industry's Unrecognized Cancer, Healthcare's Unrecognized Cancer, HIT, Newt Gingrich, par8o, sermo |
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Healthcare revolt within a year
[Follow-up
Expect an open revolt against parasites in healthcare between the election and inauguration of our next president.
It’s no secret that increasing numbers of HIPAA covered providers as well as increasingly angry patients are experiencing identity thefts and other frustrations with EHRs – lousy software forced on them by lazy stakeholders who justify their unaccountable existence on mandates and unfounded claims rather than the free market and the Hippocratic Oath.
It’s my stated prediction that the bipartisan HITECH micromanagement platform will grind to a stop before 2013 after a few more wobbly wheels fall off – just like Meaningful Use 2 mandate and the faltering ICD-10. Regardless who is elected, Gingrich and Obama will be blamed for HIPAA’s failure which is already tangible in dentistry. I’ll even go out on a limb and add that at some point one or two enlightened dentists will join me and a handful of vocal physicians in an unprofessional revolt against harmful stakeholders on behalf of our patients.
Come on out, Doc. The air is fine and your ADA membership probably won’t be suspended. I don’t think they can afford to do that more than once. They are already losing membership.
In an article titled, “Why we need to go from e-patient to i-patient,” posted today by Jackie Fox on Kevin MD blog, she makes a good case for increased patient involvement in their healthcare.
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/02/epatient-ipatient.html
“In our current system, the entities most focused on cost control are the insurance companies. This focus leads them to deny payment on claims. My oncologist told me denying claims has become so widespread he’s had to add at least two staff positions to focus on it. As far as I know, patients are largely silent and our doctors are fighting this battle on their own.”
She continues: “We also should be keeping a close watch on electronic medical records, beyond simply demanding access to our own records. I recently read a fascinating post by Adam Sharp, MD, founder of par80 & Sermo, called ‘Why EMR is A Four-Letter Word to Most Doctors.’ He explained how EMRs were largely a top-down effort, allowing third parties to implement policies by simply removing options from the EMR. ‘If you can’t select a particular treatment option, for all intents and purposes, it doesn’t exist or the red tape to choose it is so painful that there is little incentive to fight the system.’”
http://par8o.com/wordpress/why-emr-is-a-four-letter-word-to-most-doctors/
This week, Dr. Adam Sharp posted, “Click, Click, Click – Killing Healthcare,” also on par80. He’s clinically honest about the health of healthcare. I like that.
http://par8o.com/wordpress/click-click-click-killing-healthcare/
“Here’s my question for all of the pencil pushing bureaucrats, politicians, and CEOs of EMR vendors who are building products to meet the criteria of ‘meaningful use’ rather than good patient care. What would future patients say about your actions? How about your spouses and children, your friends and loved ones? Can you look them in the eye and say that you are helping physicians to abide by our oath of first and foremost to ‘Do no harm’”?
The confident physician continues: “I think it is time for the physicians of this country to reclaim our role of being the Patient Advocate in Chief.” I prefer the phrase, “We are our patients’ only natural advocate,” but Dr. Sharp and I mean the same thing. We cannot ignore our obligations even if they are bipartisan politically incorrect.
Dr. Sharp adds, “We must take a stand against the influence of those who have not earned the credibility nor deserve the right to advise patients as to the best options regarding their care. The fact that they have a conflict of interests is a whole other issue. What would Hippocrates say regarding the intrusion of non-physicians into clinical decision-making? I think he would say ‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.’”
I think he would exclaim, “Well said, Jackie Fox and Dr. Adam Sharp!”
D. Kellus Pruitt DDS
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Darrell,
The Sermo Physician Network was just sold to WorldOne for an undisclosed price.
Sermo had raised $40+m in venture capital prior to sale, making a bet that social networking for physicians could drive value to pharmaceutical and financial firms based on disclosing interactions between members of the network.
Luger
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Luger,
This caught me by surprise and I’m still not sure what to think of it. Thanks.
Darrell
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