Wesley J. Smith: Berwick Wants to Do Away With 80% of “Dinosaur” Patient/Doctor Office Calls

First Things/Secondhand Smoke ^ | 11/16/10 | Wesley J. Smith

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Oh God, I can see the legal whore commercials now.
Call 1-800-No-Care

[dearolddad]

Confirmation of Berwick would mean immediate health care rationing for seniors.

Would someone please tell Berwick the buffoon how difficult it is for your doctor to preform simple tasks like checking blood pressure, taking pulse, taking a blood sample or checking your temperature over a phone line.

[therut]

This guy is an ideologue. One of the most important things I have learned taking care of children is the question #1-——Do they LOOK sick???? I can tell with just that first look if I am seeing a child that is truly sick and something to get worried about. It comes naturally over time SEEING alot of children. OBSERVATION is a very important part of taking care of patients. LIstening to a parent or grandparent tell me about the child DOES not help much without seeing the child.

[ican'tbelieveit]

I have had dr’s make the wrong diagnosis when they see me in person.

[ronnyquest]

My doctors and their nurses can often take one look at me and see that something is wrong, but they still want to see me, face-to-face, and they still take vitals and perform necessary tests to figure out what is wrong. They still examine me in the flesh. That's the doctor-patient relationship. All these clowns need to be shown the door.

[johniegrad]

as a military dependent, I’m beginning to think we were the guinea pigs for all of this

I first practiced 8 years on military active duty and now 23 years in a group practice setting so I have seen both sides of the fence. The difference is simple. in the military setting, there is no incentive to see patients or, rather, to see only as many patients as is emergently necessary. The reimbursement is the same whether the military doctor sees 10 patients or 100 patients. On a fee for service basis in group or private practice, the financial incentives exist for doctors to see more patients.

Of course, finances don't drive everything but there are obvious disincentives to seeing patients in the military scenario.

[PLMerite]

“Would someone please tell Berwick the buffoon how difficult it is for your doctor to preform simple tasks like checking blood pressure, taking pulse, taking a blood sample or checking your temperature over a phone line.”

Give it time. iphone wil come up with an app for that. /s

[cycjec]

no, pre-emptively no more doctors. seriously. then what?