"The Ronan Report" provides insight about the activities at the Western Maryland Health System in Cumberland, Maryland, and about the changes taking place in healthcare today from a CEO's perspective.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Losing Confidence in Obamacare

I read yesterday in USA Today that physicians are losing confidence in the President's health care reform plan.  Acceptance by the American people has recently declined to now only one-third supporting it.  Is the plan perfect? Nope.  But there are aspects of the reform plan that make sense. Putting the patient first, focusing on wellness and the health of the population served by hospitals and other providers, caring for the patient in the most appropriate setting by not requiring an inpatient admission for virtually  everyone who comes through the door, and reducing the cost of health care that has become unsustainable are aspects of the plan that make sense.  There are a host of deficiencies that need to be addressed, such as aligning incentives between hospitals and physicians, tort reform, less regulation,  more incentives for physicians to deliver quality health care rather than continuing to cuts fees and reimbursement and the list goes on.  Quite honestly, the President is onto something.  If we could only get the partisan politics out of designing and delivering a workable reform plan, everyone, patients, providers, physicians, payors and even politicians would benefit.

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