HOME > PREPARED PATIENT BLOG > HEALTH INSURANCE > INSIDE HEALTH CARE
Through blogs and comments, patients and experts explore what it takes to find good health care and make the most of it.
Inside Health Care: Dichotomies: Quality or Familiarity? Empower or Manage?
Inside Health Care | November 8, 2010
Primary care doctor, Rob Lamberts, pictures a tornado cloud engulfing a community in his post Losing Patients with Insurers. Lamberts describes his interaction with a patient after he decides that he may not be able to accept certain Medicare advantage plans. He comments, There is no anger just disappointment and frustration. Patients are victims of the strategy insurance companies are using to cut costs. He questions why costs are being cut for the lowest paying physicians, who provide care that alleviates stress from a strained system. Can your doctor afford to accept your insurance? If not, should you adjust which health plan you choose in order to be able to stay with your doctor?
Dr. Davis Lui, family doctor, in Saving Money and Surviving the Healthcare Crisis, would answer no. He recommends when choosing a health insurance, start with health insurance quality first and doctor selection second. He says it could 'save your life. What is Dr. Lui suggesting?
If people are to find good health care and make the most of it, should they be empowered or managed? Guest blogger Toni Bigby on KevinMD says, 'Would people rather take direction and be ushered through the health care system or do they want to find their own information and formulate their own options for care?' Bigby thinks health care reform leans toward an empowerment model, but argues that the empowerment, management question still needs to be answered. Is it one, the other or both: empowered or managed?
Jodi G. Daniel J.D. M.P.H., of the Office of the National Coordinator, is on a team drafting a five year Federal Health IT Strategic Plan that is empowering consumer to better managed their health through information technology (IT). They want to 1) engage consumers in policy and programs related to federal health IT; 2) increase access to electronic health information; 3) foster innovation in consumer health IT; and 4) encourage electronic communication and tools. Does HealthITBuzz empower you to better manage your health?
More Blog Posts by Inside Health Care
 Inside Health Care posts feature recent news and blog posts from the health care community and are part of the Center for Advancing Health’s portfolio of free, evidence-based coverage of what it takes to find good care and make the most of it. |
Tags for this article:
Health Insurance
Health Information Technology
CFAH Staff Sarah Jorgenson Find Good Health Care Inside Healthcare
Comments on this post
Please note: CFAH reserves the right to moderate all comments posted to the Prepared Patient Blog. Any inappropriate postings will be removed.
No comments have been entered yet.
Add Your Comment
BROWSE BY: AUTHOR | TOPIC | MOST POPULAR
|
 |
Is Health Care One Gigantic Consumer Problem? Trudy Lieberman | April 23, 2013 |
|
Is Health Insurance Sticker Shock for Real? Trudy Lieberman | April 9, 2013 |
 |
Guest Blog: A Recommendation to Minimize Costs Backfires Alexis Ball | June 15, 2012 |
|
More Confusion about Those Insurance EOBs'This Time from Medicare Trudy Lieberman | June 6, 2012 |
RELATED HEALTH BEHAVIOR NEWS
 |
Unwilling to Pay Extra for Wellness |
 |
Women Often Lose Their Health Insurance When Divorced |
 |
People Surprised by Costs of Out-of-Network Care |
 |
Employment and Insurance: No Guarantee for Better Health |
