14 DecThe politics of pain

The Institute of Medicine stands outside the government, offering independent advice to both the decision-makers in government and the public. As a nonprofit, its mission is to improve the quality of the healthcare services by providing detailed policy suggestions based on the best available evidence. This July, it published a highly critical report on the continuing refusal of the medical profession to accept comparative effectiveness research. This is work to discover which treatments are the most effective. At present, we are left to guess which treatments offer the best outcomes for each illness or disorder with little effort made to collect evidence on safety and quality. Hence, at one end of the scale, we can go years without knowing a particular drug or surgical procedure is ineffective. Or we can find ourselves participating in unofficial trials where doctors talk patients into off-label experiments with drugs.

Unfortunately, this is all part of the general lack of accountability within the healthcare services. The present culture allows the pharmaceutical industry and the doctors to dictate the treatment standards based on what generates the most profit for them. The idea such people would actively seek evidence to show whether their cherished treatments were medically effective is a nonstarter. There’s no willingness to engineer a learning environment where everyone tries to improve. Rather everyone wants to avoid any liability for errors of judgement and mistakes. Imagine the litigation if it emerged that doctors had for years been advising we agree to ineffective treatments.

Until there’s a major change in the culture, we will have to look with envy at the approach of the Europeans in the pain management field. As a symptom of our problems, the words “pain management clinic” in Florida and certain other states usually indicates a borderline illegal operation to sell pills. We should modify all aspects of the current service. The first reforms should affect the health insurance industry and the public bodies like Medicaid and Medicare. At present, these administrators and business people simply pay out on the bills submitted by the hospitals, clinics and doctors. Since the taxpayers fund the entitlement systems and the rest of us with money pay ever higher premiums, there’s no pressure on insurers to demand value for money. They are not there to guarantee good quality care for their insured. All they do is pay out on the bills and pocket the rest as profit.

At present, it suits everyone concerned with pain management to do as little as possible. That means the shortest possible consultations followed by the prescription of one of the standard drugs, the most effective being Tramadol. This gives everyone in the healthcare services industry the maximum possible profit with the least possible effort. If they were to adopt the European model of one-to-one treatment by physical therapists, cognitive behavioral therapists, and so on, the labor costs would rocket and profit would decline. So there’s no chance of a team-based, patient-centric approach in our great nation. Further, any evidence that might show the European approach to be more effective in medical terms must be suppressed. Everything possible must be done to reinforce the current practice standards. That means you take another Tramadol and accept second best.

13 DecThe politics of the deficit

You have probably noticed Washing almost produced a default on “foreign” debt. The Republican party held the government hostage to force action on the deficit. Now don’t be misled here. There are real problems in owing too much money and, truth be told, we do owe too much as a nation. But there are a number of real problems if the only strategy government is allowed to discuss is where to make cuts because there comes a point when you stop cutting the waste and the redundant programs, and start cutting the socially useful programs. At some point, we need more revenue. That said, there’s a big issue to talk about here: the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. In theory, this is a good idea. If you force everyone to pay for their care, the premiums for everyone will fall and we all benefit. But forcing everyone to pay may not be constitutional and it does nothing to control costs.

The government is the biggest buyer of drugs through Medicare and Medicaid. It has the power to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry on the price for each drug. If it used this power, it could save the country billions of dollars and, as individuals within health plans, we would all see our premiums drop. All it takes is for the government to show a little concern for taxpayers. Except that would mean cutting the profits of the drug manufacturers and the President backed away from that during the first stages of trying to get the bill into law. He thought it was more important to get the votes for the law and worry about the costs later. Put another way he realized too many Democrats take lobby money from Big Pharma and would not vote for his law.

In other countries, governments direct the medical profession on what they are allowed to prescribe. So where there’s a choice, doctors are only allowed to prescribe generic drugs and not the brands. Even where branded drugs are still under patent protection, doctors in the public sector may not be allowed to prescribe the drugs if the regulators consider the prices too high. This leaves patients with the option of paying for the drugs out of their own pocket or, if they have private insurance, negotiating with the insurer to pay. Yes, this cuts into the profits of the drug companies, but which is more important? That a country should have an affordable healthcare service? Or that the profits of a few drug companies should be allowed to grow without limit?

A recent report on healthcare policy called for a revolution in the culture of American healthcare. It argued there should be a radical change in the attitude of both government and the insurers, forcing the pharmaceutical manufacturers and doctors to reduce their profits. Note the force of this article. It’s on a site encouraging you to use Tramadol as your drug of choice if you are in pain. This is the generic version of Ultram which is sold at significantly higher prices. This site is trying to be responsible in encouraging you to use the cheap Tramadol. As an approved generic, it’s exactly the same as the more expensive brand. There’s no need to pay more.

19 OctHow to Get Started on Your Medical Career



There are many different varieties of jobs with regard to a medical career. Physician’s assistant, nurse, medical billing professional and doctor are all examples of jobs available within the medical profession. No matter what type of job you are interested in getting with regard to the medical field, there are a few ways to get the ball rolling and be well on your way to pursuing your medical field goals.

Determine Desired Job Position

The first step you must take prior to entering the medical profession is to determine what type of job position you wish to acquire. The job that you select will dictate what you need to do prior to gaining employment in that position as different jobs require different types and amounts of schooling in addition to experience in some cases. Once you determine what you would like to do within the medical profession you will then be able to get on your way to achieving your medical career goals.

Speak with a Professional in the Chosen Field

As soon as you determine what role you would like to play in the medical field the next step is to learn more about your desired profession. A good way to do so is to speak with individuals who are well versed in that area. For example, if you are hoping to become a nurse it is a wise idea to either speak with someone whom you know is a nurse or call a nursing school in the area as you will ultimately need to acquire certain nursing degrees before you are able to gain a job as a nurse. Speaking with a professional in the chosen area will help you to not only gather information on the career field but also truly determine whether or not this is a career goal you wish to pursue.

Attend School If Necessary

Most positions in the medical field will require the individual interested in gaining employment in that area to attend school to acquire necessary credits. Some professions will require a good amount of school, such as in the case of becoming a doctor, whereas other job roles may require minimal amounts of school course credits. Keep in mind that it may be a few months to a few years to gain the necessary schooling which will allow you to obtain a job in your chosen medical field. However, if this is truly the route that you wish to take then it is well worth the various years of school in order to achieve your goals.

Acquire an Internship or Apply For the Job

Once you have achieved the necessary amounts of school credits which are required for obtaining the degree for your job field the next step is to acquire an internship in the medical field or apply for the job outright. Some places in which you can learn about internship or job opportunities include your school where you obtained your degree, classified ads or one of the many job websites online these days. In addition, you may know someone who is looking to fill your desired job position and this is often a great way to obtain a job in your medical career of choice.

14 AugMedical Coding Careers



Careers in medical fields require great responsibility; dexterity in the specialized line of medical affairs is an inevitable part of the whole thing. As time goes by, a career in the medical profession is becoming more of a challenge, adventure and competition. One can belong to any of the fields of medical science.

One can be a doctor, medical officer, pharmaceutical manager, administrator of a hospital, a nurse, medical transcriptor, medical biller, medical coder and much more. Many new medical careers are related to the manufacturing, business administrative and management fields of medicine. Among all the various careers, one of the most intriguing and interesting fields is that of medical coding.

The profession of medical coding involves the frequent use of alpha-numeric codes to record specific illnesses, injuries, and medical procedures. This process of assigning codes is usually done under the system of a particular rule of coding that is used across the world, from doctor’s offices and hospitals to insurance companies and federal agencies. These codes are greatly utilized by the hospitals, nursing homes, labs and doctors for internal data collection and other planning objectives.

On the other hand, various insurance companies and public agencies concerned with the health care system require the codes to reimburse health-care providers. One of the greatest utilities that these codes offer is that they are even used by international health organizations to track patterns of disease and the costs of health care which will enable them to take measures to prevent the diseases.

23 JulMedical Billing Careers



Today medical billing careers and jobs are very exciting and are in great demand allover the world. A medical billing career is the right option for service minded job seekers who wish to help patients. Top colleges and universities with medical billing career training programs offer you challenging jobs in medical billing careers. With the advent of modern technology, there has been a great demand for work from home medical billing careers.

Medical billing and coding specialists are generally employed in clinics, hospitals, insurance companies, consulting firms, medical coding and billing services firms, governmental agencies and computer software companies. The basic function of a medical billing and coding specialist is to assign codes to diagnoses and procedures. This ensures correct transformation of information between the insurance and the medical facilities.

If you opt for a rewarding career in medical billing, there are numerous online institutions, formal vocational schools, and colleges that can prepare you for the online medical billing field. Your education will include training in communication skills, office management, billing, coding, insurance coding, insurance law, computer science and more.

Medical billing careers are on the rise these days. Medical billing claims due to erroneous billing cost hospitals a lot of money and they are actively searching for medical billing specialists. Billing specialists are badly wanted to solve the problem of errors in billing and relieve the physician of this time-consuming task

There are a number of fields in the medical career for you to choose from. Medical billing is a thriving career among them. Throughout the medical billing career, a billing specialist has to train himself constantly to upgrade his skill levels. A good temperament is an important quality that a medical billing professional ought to have. It helps him better interact with patients, their relatives, medical representatives, medical professionals, colleagues, doctors, and other office personnel.

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