medpundit |
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Saturday, August 26, 2006Most of these are just requests to be minimally responsible in exchange for free healthcare, and they're directed at the root problems of providing care for the Medicaid population - missed appointments and emergency room abuse. But I wonder how many people who sign it will know what a "medical home" is. Sounds nice and cozy, doesn't it? But it's just the way of saying "family doctor" without specifying family medicine. It encompasses any doctor, or nurse practioner, I suppose, who is the primary doctor for the patient. What we used to call the family doctor, but which no longer seem to recognize. How far does the average West Virginian have to travel to get to a doctor's office? It truly is a wild and wonderful state, but wild and wonderful means few and far between. And how many doctors in West Virginia accept Medicaid? The trend nationwide is declining, but in 2002, almost 70% did, a fairly good percentage as these things go. But if the new program requires a large burden of paperwork to prove patient compliance, the number is likely to decrease. I for one, would not welcome the intrusion of the state into my relationship with my patients. As benign as the stipulations in the agreement seem, they're likely to cut access to medical care for the state's poorest and most rural citizens. But then, that's probably the idea. What do West Virginians think? It's hard to say, at least some like the idea, but a perusal of Back Porch Politics West Virginia Newspapers shows that it really hasn't registered much of a reaction. In fact, it seems that a lot of the criticism comes from outsiders. Including me. UPDATE: The HealthBlawg isn't impressed, either. But RangelMD likes the idea. posted by Sydney on 8/26/2006 04:25:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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