Stimulus / Social Security Folks

I guess everyone knows about the health care changes in the package.They intend to create a National Co-Ordinator of Health Information Technology.Their function will be to monitor and guide the treatment the doc provides to be sure he/she will be doing what the gov deems appropriate and cost effective.The board approves or rejects treatment using a formula that divides the cost into the number of years the patient can benefit. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of receiving treatment.This means elderly will bear the brunt.Hospitals and docs will face meaningful penaltys if they do not adhere to the electronically delivered protocols. I have heard that some of this was patterned from the European method and Mr Daschle had quite a bit of input. I am both angry and chilled to think they would treat the "country builders" like this.I guess if you are elderly and have cancer they pump you full of pain killers and send you on your way.I hope it is not true but I cannot read the text of the document to know what the full ramifications are. And they wonder why people don't trust politicians.

That Dork daschle , doesn't care. He gets free medical for the rest of his life at the tax payers expence.

ken wrote:That Dork daschle , doesn't care. He gets free medical for the rest of his life at the tax payers expence.

Not true. Members of Congress get retirement benefits from the same civil service retirement plan as other federal retirees. Depending on where you live you many have multiple choices for medical coverage from private insurance companies. The retiree pays those premiums by withholdings from your monthly retirement check. Medical coverage is not free, and like all medical costs the costs to government employees, retirees and members of Congress continues to increase.

The position of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology isn't "new"; it was created by George W. Bush five years ago. More importantly, the measure is about medical records, not limiting physicians' treatments.

In fact, the language in the House bill does NOT establish authority to "monitor treatments" or restrict what "your doctor is doing" with regard to patient care, but rather addresses establishing an electronic records system such that doctors would have complete, accurate information about their patients "to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care."

SEC. 3001. OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR FOR HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.

"(a) Establishment-- There is established within the Department of Health and Human Services an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (referred to in this section as the 'Office'). The Office shall be headed by a National Coordinator who shall be appointed by the Secretary and shall report directly to the Secretary.
"(b) Purpose-- The National Coordinator shall perform the duties under subsection (c) in a manner consistent with the development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information and that--
"(1) ensures that each patient's health information is secure and protected, in accordance with applicable law;
"(2) improves health care quality, reduces medical errors, reduces health disparities, and advances the delivery of patient-centered medical care;
"(3) reduces health care costs resulting from inefficiency, medical errors, inappropriate care, duplicative care, and incomplete information;
"(4) provides appropriate information to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care;
"(5) ensures the inclusion of meaningful public input in such development of such infrastructure;
"(6) improves the coordination of care and information among hospitals, laboratories, physician offices, and other entities through an effective infrastructure for the secure and authorized exchange of health care information;
"(7) improves public health activities and facilitates the early identification and rapid response to public health threats and emergencies, including bio-terror events and infectious disease outbreaks;
"(8) facilitates health and clinical research and health care quality;
"(9) promotes prevention of chronic diseases;
"(10) promotes a more effective marketplace, greater competition, greater systems analysis, increased consumer choice, and improved outcomes in health care services; and
"(11) improves efforts to reduce health disparities.

Again, this section of the bill was originally created under the Bush administration. The bill was designed to fund the information technology to provide doctors and hospitals with transitioning medical records from paper to a more efficient electronic format and to allow information about possible treatments to flow to and by the treating physicians in a timely manner.

This bill does NOT and will NOT tell doctors how to treat patients. If the Gov't wanted to tell doctors how to treat you, there are more ways available now than you can shake a stick at, but, this is not one of them.

beemerboy ~ I do not know how this erroneous information makes it to the talk shows,newspapers and internet but I would like to think that the sum and total of this issue is as you depict it,in short I like your information a lot better than the rest and I sincerely hope that you are correct, phew, now I can stop gretzing about it for the time being and go relite the coal boiler . Mike

This lie about the Gov't monitoring treatments was started by an opinion piece in the Bloomberg news by Betsy McCaughy, a staffer at a conservative think tank who also used to be a Republican Lt Gov. of NY. (notice this an opinion piece, not actual reporting).

This story was picked up by Rush Limbaugh on Monday. Later that day Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report picked that up.

On Tuesday, Fox News and the Wall Streat Journal editorial board picked it up and ran with it without checking facts.

On Wednesday, Limbaugh took credit for breaking the "story" adding more misinformation.

Like the old game "rumor" at each step of the way, more lies were added to the story to scare their audience.

I believe it was Mark Twain who said something like: "a lie will travel the world before truth gets it's pants on".

The more sensational and dangerous it sounds the faster it will travel.

beemerboy wrote:I believe it was Mark Twain who said something like: "a lie will travel the world before truth gets it's pants on".

It was Churchill



A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston Churchill

Devil505 wrote:

beemerboy wrote:I believe it was Mark Twain who said something like: "a lie will travel the world before truth gets it's pants on".

It was Churchill

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston Churchill

A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
- This quote has been attributed to Mark Twain, but it has never been verified as originating with Twain. This quote may have originated with Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) who attributed it to an old proverb in a sermon delivered on Sunday morning, April 1, 1855. Spurgeon was a celebrated English fundamentalist Baptist preacher. His words were: "A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on."

http://www.twainquotes.com/Lies.html

This bill does NOT and will NOT tell doctors how to treat patients.

The government is leaving that up to the insurance industry.

The people did not ask for such a law.

It is not the job of government to create such a law or such a position.

It is not necessary to have a network of interconnected national databases. PERIOD.

Why in God's name would you need your records in a central database?

If they are on an electronic medium they can be retrieved now. If they are on paper they can be retrieved now.

HIT is totally off base here. Most people have a local personal physician. That's usually as far as your records need to go. When they need to go elsewhere, your doctor sends them to your specialist or hospital, or around the world. The pertinent records can be most anywhere in minutes. Now we need a bureacracy to do this?

The notion of a national health records centralized database to promote records security and ensure better treatment is on its face.....suspect.

If they want to standardize record keeping and transmittal formats....wonderful. But, central databases....NG.

c) Duties of the National Coordinator-

(1) STANDARDS- The National Coordinator shall review and determine whether to endorse each standard, implementation specification, and certification criterion for the electronic exchange and use of health information that is recommended by the HIT Standards Committee under section 3003 for purposes of adoption under section 3004(b). The Coordinator shall make such determination, and report to the Secretary such determination, not later than 90 days after the date the recommendation is received by the Coordinator.

(2) HIT POLICY COORDINATION- The National Coordinator shall coordinate health information technology policy and programs of the Department with those of other relevant executive branch agencies with a goal of avoiding duplication of efforts and of helping to ensure that each agency undertakes health information technology activities primarily within the areas of its greatest expertise and technical capability.

(3) STRATEGIC PLAN-

(A) IN GENERAL- The National Coordinator shall, in consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies (including the National Institute of Standards and Technology), maintain and update a strategic plan with specific objectives, milestones, and metrics for the following:

(i) The electronic exchange and use of health information and the enterprise integration of such information.

(ii) The utilization of an electronic health record for each person in the United States by 2014.

(iii) The incorporation of privacy and security protections for the electronic exchange of an individual's individually identifiable health information.

(iv) Ensuring security methods to ensure appropriate authorization and electronic authentication of health information and specifying technologies or methodologies for rendering health information unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable.

(v) Specifying a framework for coordination and flow of recommendations and policies under this subtitle among the Secretary, the National Coordinator, the HIT Policy Committee, the HIT Standards Committee, and other health information exchanges and other relevant entities.

(vi) Methods to foster the public understanding of health information technology.

(vii) Strategies to enhance the use of health information technology in improving the quality of health care, reducing medical errors, reducing health disparities, and in improving the continuity of care among health care settings.

(B) COLLABORATION- The strategic plan shall be developed and updated through collaboration of public and private interests.

(C) MEASURABLE OUTCOME GOALS- The strategic plan shall include measurable outcome goals.

(D) PUBLICATION- The National Coordinator shall publish the strategic plan, including all updates.

(4) WEBSITE- The National Coordinator shall maintain and frequently update an Internet website on which there is posted information that includes the following:

(A) The schedule developed by the HIT Standards Committee under section 3003(b)(3).

(B) The recommendations of the HIT Policy Committee under section 3002.

(C) Recommendations of the HIT Standards Committee under section 3003.

(D) Sources of Federal grant funds and technical assistance that are available to facilitate the purchase of, or enhance the utilization of, health information technology systems.

(E) The report prepared by the National Coordinator under paragraph (5).

(F) The assessment by the National Coordinator under paragraph (6).

(G) The evaluation by the National Coordinator under paragraph (7).

(H) The annual estimate of resources required under paragraph (8).

(5) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT- The National Coordinator shall prepare a report that identifies lessons learned from major public and private health care systems in their implementation of health information technology systems, including information on whether the systems and practices developed by such systems may be applicable to and usable in whole or in part by other health care providers.

(6) ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT OF HIT ON COMMUNITIES WITH HEALTH DISPARITIES AND UNINSURED, UNDERINSURED, AND MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS- The National Coordinator shall assess and publish the impact of health information technology in communities with health disparities and in areas that serve uninsured, underinsured, and medically underserved individuals (including urban and rural areas) and identify practices to increase the adoption of such technology by health care providers in such communities.

(7) EVALUATION OF BENEFITS AND COSTS OF THE ELECTRONIC USE AND EXCHANGE OF HEALTH INFORMATION- The National Coordinator shall evaluate and publish evidence on the benefits and costs of the electronic use and exchange of health information and assess to whom these benefits and costs accrue.

(8) RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS- The National Coordinator shall estimate and publish resources required annually to reach the goal of utilization of an electronic health record for each person in the United States by 2014, including the required level of Federal funding, expectations for regional, State, and private investment, and the expected contributions by volunteers to activities for the utilization of such records.

(9) CERTIFICATION-

(A) IN GENERAL- The National Coordinator, in consultation with the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall develop a program (either directly or by contract) for the voluntary certification of health information technology as being in compliance with applicable certification criteria adopted under this subtitle. Such program shall include testing of the technology in accordance with section 201(b) of the PRO(TECH)T Act of 2008.

(B) CERTIFICATION CRITERIA DESCRIBED- In this title, the term `certification criteria' means, with respect to standards and implementation specifications for health information technology, criteria to establish that the technology meets such standards and implementation specifications.

It seems to me like your privacy just got a whole lot less secure with this measure. Literally, they will be able to check up your ass with a flashlight. Once records exist in pristine standardized formats, they become electronically searchable. How would you know if your privacy is protected or not? What's to stop the government from looking at your information to determine that you are a criminal or a subversive or a just a rabble rouser in their opinion? Law enforcement agencies routinely violate your civil rights. It may be against the law but they have the power and use it to their advantage. This system will be open to abuse should certain government agencies be up to no good.

Mike ~ Thanks for posting that tidy piece of information.Now I know what those people that write the tax refund booklets do in their spare time. All I can believe after reading it thru, is that we are like free range cattle about to be rounded up,sized for the market,segregated by type, and headed out to processing,this thing bears close watching. Mike

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force.
Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

mikeandgerry wrote:It isIf they want to standardize record keeping and transmittal formats....wonderful. But, central databases....NG.

The implementation of the medical records will use a distributed database. There will be no central database for all records; the amount of data to be stored is much to large to have in one central location. Clearly the devil will be in the details, but the issues like privacy, data accuracy and access control are technical design constraints that have solutions. The government roll will be to define the standards. Notice the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is specifically mentioned. It's in Germantown, MD and it has many competent civil servants. I have every reason to believe they will meet the goals laid out in the law.

Don't be confused with the hysterical linkage of this rather narrow task to all the politics of US healthcare.

Black_And_Blue wrote:Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force.
Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Good quote.....yours?