Does Medicare Want Your Doctor to Quit?

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Air Date: May 24, 2013

Host: Jim Schneider

Guest: Dr. Alieta Eck

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Dr. Alieta Eck is the past president and current member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (A.A.P.S.). She and her husband founded the Zarephath Health Center, a free clinic for the poor and uninsured that currently cares for 300-400 patients per month utilizing the donated services of volunteer physicians and nurses in New Jersey.

There are significant changes that are taking place right now regarding Medicare that are of great concern to Dr. Eck.

The paperwork burden is increasing under Obamacare which takes away from being able to provide quality patient care. This paperwork burden extends to online record keeping.

For example, the government wants medical records online. They also want many things coded and are moving from the ICD-9 code to ICD-10 code which will increase by a factor of 6 the number of different codes doctors choose from.

Interestingly, Dr. Eck’s payments have been cut because she doesn’t send prescriptions to the pharmacies electronically. Why should the government care about how a prescription is communicated to the pharmacy?

This Crosstalk continued by looking at many other aspects of our increasingly complicated health care system including:

What is the Physician Quality Reporting System (P.Q.R.S.)

Some physicians are leaving private practice and moving to hospitals. What does this mean for patients?

What decisions will be made by the 16 member Independent Payment Advisory Board?

How do labor unions feel about Obamacare?

…and much more including pertinent questions from Crosstalk listeners.

More Information:

American Association of Physicians and Surgeons
aapsonline.org

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