DOCTORS BRIBED BY MEDICARE

DOCTORS BEING BRIBED TO E-PRESCRIBE

Medicare started paying doctors a bonus if they switch their prescriptions to electronic prescriptions.   It amounts to 2% of the of Medicare charges, or about 2k extra for the doctor.   Some health care companies are giving free software, and digital handheld devices.  This has doubled this past year with these incentives.  Now 12% of office-based doctors are using electronic prescriptions.  It costs the doctor 25k to 45k.

A secure Internet goes directly to pharmacies.  It has reduced errors in prescriptions and saves money for the insurance companies.  Patients don’t have to wait for their prescriptions.

Federal law still will not allow narcotics, sleeping pills and anti-depressants to be done electronically.  The software checks your drug history, wrong doses, and possible harmful reactions from the other drugs you take. The software pushes generics with a smiling face, and a frown when the doctor uses an expensive drug.  The doctor is encouraged to find a select generic low cost medication. 

The doctor also finds out all the drugs you never told him you were taking from other doctors.  A history  is displayed of all your medications and which ones are covered by your health plan. 

 

President Obama wants to modernize our U.S. health care record system.  But are our electronic record systems able to talk to each other or will this fragmented systems make things worse than they are.  The current crop of electronic programs if implemented will stifle innovation that is needed to make the electronic record system useful.  It certainly will increase clinical and administrative errors with the medical user interface complexity.

Doctors are reluctant to adopt electronic records because most of the rewards go to the insurance companies instead of the doctors.   In the office, it will cost $50k per doctor, and this does not include the lost productivity as the staff learns the new technology.  The doctors will save 11% by using the system.   It is a high-risk venture that puts doctors income at peril. 

Will this help you?  Now about 20% of all prescriptions are never filled.  Do you want the doctor to prescribe the drug he thinks will help you, or should he give you a low cost generic drug? 

(SEE MY BLOG:  PROBLEMS WITH GENERICS (Jan 22, 2009).  Visit www.drneedles.com for more information on controversial medical subjects.  Your comments are always appreciated.