The best healthcare in America is government run

Chris

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May 30, 2008
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Most private hospitals can only dream of the futuristic medicine Dr. Divya Shroff practices today. Outside an elderly patient's room, the attending physician gathers her residents around a wireless laptop propped on a mobile cart. Shroff accesses the patient's entire medical history--a stack of paper in most private hospitals. And instead of trekking to the radiology lab to view the latest X-ray, she brings it up on her computer screen. While Shroff is visiting the patient, a resident types in a request for pain medication, then punches the SEND button. Seconds later, the printer in the hospital pharmacy spits out the order. The druggist stuffs a plastic bag of pills into what looks like a tiny space capsule, then shoots it up to the ward in a vacuum tube. By the time Shroff wheels away her computer, a nurse walks up with the drugs.

Life in a big-name institution like the Mayo Clinic? Not hardly. Shroff, 31, a specialist in internal medicine, works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington, where the vets who come for the cutting-edge treatment are mostly poor.

If you're surprised, that's understandable. Until the early 1990s, care at VA hospitals was so substandard that Congress considered shutting down the entire system and giving ex-G.I.s vouchers for treatment at private facilities. Today it's a very different story. The VA runs the largest integrated health-care system in the country, with more than 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes employing 14,800 doctors and 61,000 nurses. And by a number of measures, this government-managed health-care program--socialized medicine on a small scale--is beating the marketplace. For the sixth year in a row, VA hospitals last year scored higher than private facilities on the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on patient surveys on the quality of care received. The VA scored 83 out of 100; private institutions, 71. Males 65 years and older receiving VA care had about a 40% lower risk of death than those enrolled in Medicare Advantage, whose care is provided through private health plans or HMOs, according to a study published in the April edition of Medical Care. Harvard University just gave the VA its Innovations in American Government Award for the agency's work in computerizing patient records.

And all that was achieved at a relatively low cost. In the past 10 years, the number of veterans receiving treatment from the VA has more than doubled, from 2.5 million to 5.3 million, but the agency has cared for them with 10,000 fewer employees. The VA's cost per patient has remained steady during the past 10 years. The cost of private care has jumped about 40% in that same period.

How Veterans' Hospitals Became the Best in Health Care - TIME
 
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Oh good. We won't have to fork out any more money to the Veterans Administration anymore.

Thats a relief.

I just can't wait for that rationing!
 
Hey, the best run retirement program is government run too!

Oh, wait....
 
Gee I just got back from my doctors office to day. My doctor set there with a laptop checking all my medical history. The Va does other interesting things like call you Saturday morning to tell you you have a doctors appointment the following Monday with out any other advance warning. If you try to go see the VA on your schedule rather than theirs expect to wait all day or expect to drive 60 miles to what the VA laughingly calls an urgent care facility. The only Vets that routinely go to the VA are those with no other options.
 
Gee I just got back from my doctors office to day. My doctor set there with a laptop checking all my medical history. The Va does other interesting things like call you Saturday morning to tell you you have a doctors appointment the following Monday with out any other advance warning. If you try to go see the VA on your schedule rather than theirs expect to wait all day or expect to drive 60 miles to what the VA laughingly calls an urgent care facility. The only Vets that routinely go to the VA are those with no other options.
but, but, but..

Its government run. Don'tcha know they are the best!
 
Gee I just got back from my doctors office to day. My doctor set there with a laptop checking all my medical history. The Va does other interesting things like call you Saturday morning to tell you you have a doctors appointment the following Monday with out any other advance warning. If you try to go see the VA on your schedule rather than theirs expect to wait all day or expect to drive 60 miles to what the VA laughingly calls an urgent care facility. The only Vets that routinely go to the VA are those with no other options.

And those Vets are more satisfied with their care than the average for profit patient.

Sorry to bother you with the facts.
 
That's a joke I am a Vet. Been there and done that. The VA sucked Ass 30 years ago the first time I had it. It's better now but it still sucks ass. I met no one there that had regular insurance that used the VA after a couple of visits.
 
Most private hospitals can only dream of the futuristic medicine Dr. Divya Shroff practices today. Outside an elderly patient's room, the attending physician gathers her residents around a wireless laptop propped on a mobile cart. Shroff accesses the patient's entire medical history--a stack of paper in most private hospitals. And instead of trekking to the radiology lab to view the latest X-ray, she brings it up on her computer screen. While Shroff is visiting the patient, a resident types in a request for pain medication, then punches the SEND button. Seconds later, the printer in the hospital pharmacy spits out the order. The druggist stuffs a plastic bag of pills into what looks like a tiny space capsule, then shoots it up to the ward in a vacuum tube. By the time Shroff wheels away her computer, a nurse walks up with the drugs.

Life in a big-name institution like the Mayo Clinic? Not hardly. Shroff, 31, a specialist in internal medicine, works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington, where the vets who come for the cutting-edge treatment are mostly poor.

If you're surprised, that's understandable. Until the early 1990s, care at VA hospitals was so substandard that Congress considered shutting down the entire system and giving ex-G.I.s vouchers for treatment at private facilities. Today it's a very different story. The VA runs the largest integrated health-care system in the country, with more than 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes employing 14,800 doctors and 61,000 nurses. And by a number of measures, this government-managed health-care program--socialized medicine on a small scale--is beating the marketplace. For the sixth year in a row, VA hospitals last year scored higher than private facilities on the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on patient surveys on the quality of care received. The VA scored 83 out of 100; private institutions, 71. Males 65 years and older receiving VA care had about a 40% lower risk of death than those enrolled in Medicare Advantage, whose care is provided through private health plans or HMOs, according to a study published in the April edition of Medical Care. Harvard University just gave the VA its Innovations in American Government Award for the agency's work in computerizing patient records.

And all that was achieved at a relatively low cost. In the past 10 years, the number of veterans receiving treatment from the VA has more than doubled, from 2.5 million to 5.3 million, but the agency has cared for them with 10,000 fewer employees. The VA's cost per patient has remained steady during the past 10 years. The cost of private care has jumped about 40% in that same period.

How Veterans' Hospitals Became the Best in Health Care - TIME

Oh Chris... really?

I didn't think there was anyone that didn't know most VA hospitals were performing miserably.

I recently had to see a specialist. I won't go into details, the old ladies here are much too rabid, but my bf found me a great doc and paid the bill. I felt like I'd stepped into the future. If you want the very best health care, IMO, you will find a great doc and pay them yourself. HMO's suck. PPO's suck. And I'm betting anything the gov't cooks up will make HMO's and PPO's look like they know what they're doing.

I think everyone in the world should get the very best health care. I wish there was a way to provide it. I'm like a bleeding heart Lib where health is concerned, but.... I don't think what I've heard so far is the solution. Is reform needed? Absolutely. Have I heard a workable idea from the Dems? No F'ing way. And holding up the VA as the beacon of hope... I wish it were true, Chris, truly I do, but I know better.
 
Most private hospitals can only dream of the futuristic medicine Dr. Divya Shroff practices today. Outside an elderly patient's room, the attending physician gathers her residents around a wireless laptop propped on a mobile cart. Shroff accesses the patient's entire medical history--a stack of paper in most private hospitals. And instead of trekking to the radiology lab to view the latest X-ray, she brings it up on her computer screen. While Shroff is visiting the patient, a resident types in a request for pain medication, then punches the SEND button. Seconds later, the printer in the hospital pharmacy spits out the order. The druggist stuffs a plastic bag of pills into what looks like a tiny space capsule, then shoots it up to the ward in a vacuum tube. By the time Shroff wheels away her computer, a nurse walks up with the drugs.

Life in a big-name institution like the Mayo Clinic? Not hardly. Shroff, 31, a specialist in internal medicine, works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington, where the vets who come for the cutting-edge treatment are mostly poor.

If you're surprised, that's understandable. Until the early 1990s, care at VA hospitals was so substandard that Congress considered shutting down the entire system and giving ex-G.I.s vouchers for treatment at private facilities. Today it's a very different story. The VA runs the largest integrated health-care system in the country, with more than 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes employing 14,800 doctors and 61,000 nurses. And by a number of measures, this government-managed health-care program--socialized medicine on a small scale--is beating the marketplace. For the sixth year in a row, VA hospitals last year scored higher than private facilities on the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on patient surveys on the quality of care received. The VA scored 83 out of 100; private institutions, 71. Males 65 years and older receiving VA care had about a 40% lower risk of death than those enrolled in Medicare Advantage, whose care is provided through private health plans or HMOs, according to a study published in the April edition of Medical Care. Harvard University just gave the VA its Innovations in American Government Award for the agency's work in computerizing patient records.

And all that was achieved at a relatively low cost. In the past 10 years, the number of veterans receiving treatment from the VA has more than doubled, from 2.5 million to 5.3 million, but the agency has cared for them with 10,000 fewer employees. The VA's cost per patient has remained steady during the past 10 years. The cost of private care has jumped about 40% in that same period.

How Veterans' Hospitals Became the Best in Health Care - TIME

Oh Chris... really?

I didn't think there was anyone that didn't know most VA hospitals were performing miserably.

I recently had to see a specialist. I won't go into details, the old ladies here are much too rabid, but my bf found me a great doc and paid the bill. I felt like I'd stepped into the future. If you want the very best health care, IMO, you will find a great doc and pay them yourself. HMO's suck. PPO's suck. And I'm betting anything the gov't cooks up will make HMO's and PPO's look like they know what they're doing.

I think everyone in the world should get the very best health care. I wish there was a way to provide it. I'm like a bleeding heart Lib where health is concerned, but.... I don't think what I've heard so far is the solution. Is reform needed? Absolutely. Have I heard a workable idea from the Dems? No F'ing way. And holding up the VA as the beacon of hope... I wish it were true, Chris, truly I do, but I know better.

careful. Chrissy is going to neg-rep you. Oh wait, he can't. :lol::lol::lol:
 
Most private hospitals can only dream of the futuristic medicine Dr. Divya Shroff practices today. Outside an elderly patient's room, the attending physician gathers her residents around a wireless laptop propped on a mobile cart. Shroff accesses the patient's entire medical history--a stack of paper in most private hospitals. And instead of trekking to the radiology lab to view the latest X-ray, she brings it up on her computer screen. While Shroff is visiting the patient, a resident types in a request for pain medication, then punches the SEND button. Seconds later, the printer in the hospital pharmacy spits out the order. The druggist stuffs a plastic bag of pills into what looks like a tiny space capsule, then shoots it up to the ward in a vacuum tube. By the time Shroff wheels away her computer, a nurse walks up with the drugs.

Life in a big-name institution like the Mayo Clinic? Not hardly. Shroff, 31, a specialist in internal medicine, works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington, where the vets who come for the cutting-edge treatment are mostly poor.

If you're surprised, that's understandable. Until the early 1990s, care at VA hospitals was so substandard that Congress considered shutting down the entire system and giving ex-G.I.s vouchers for treatment at private facilities. Today it's a very different story. The VA runs the largest integrated health-care system in the country, with more than 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes employing 14,800 doctors and 61,000 nurses. And by a number of measures, this government-managed health-care program--socialized medicine on a small scale--is beating the marketplace. For the sixth year in a row, VA hospitals last year scored higher than private facilities on the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on patient surveys on the quality of care received. The VA scored 83 out of 100; private institutions, 71. Males 65 years and older receiving VA care had about a 40% lower risk of death than those enrolled in Medicare Advantage, whose care is provided through private health plans or HMOs, according to a study published in the April edition of Medical Care. Harvard University just gave the VA its Innovations in American Government Award for the agency's work in computerizing patient records.

And all that was achieved at a relatively low cost. In the past 10 years, the number of veterans receiving treatment from the VA has more than doubled, from 2.5 million to 5.3 million, but the agency has cared for them with 10,000 fewer employees. The VA's cost per patient has remained steady during the past 10 years. The cost of private care has jumped about 40% in that same period.

How Veterans' Hospitals Became the Best in Health Care - TIME

Oh Chris... really?

I didn't think there was anyone that didn't know most VA hospitals were performing miserably.

I recently had to see a specialist. I won't go into details, the old ladies here are much too rabid, but my bf found me a great doc and paid the bill. I felt like I'd stepped into the future. If you want the very best health care, IMO, you will find a great doc and pay them yourself. HMO's suck. PPO's suck. And I'm betting anything the gov't cooks up will make HMO's and PPO's look like they know what they're doing.

I think everyone in the world should get the very best health care. I wish there was a way to provide it. I'm like a bleeding heart Lib where health is concerned, but.... I don't think what I've heard so far is the solution. Is reform needed? Absolutely. Have I heard a workable idea from the Dems? No F'ing way. And holding up the VA as the beacon of hope... I wish it were true, Chris, truly I do, but I know better.

One thing I like about the people here is that they never bother to read the articles at the links. Best to remain ignorant.
 
Here's a link to a book you all should read....

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Best-Care-Anywhere-Health-Better/dp/0977825302#]Amazon.com: Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care is Better Than Yours (9780977825301): Phillip Longman, Timothy Noah: Books[/ame]
 
Most private hospitals can only dream of the futuristic medicine Dr. Divya Shroff practices today. Outside an elderly patient's room, the attending physician gathers her residents around a wireless laptop propped on a mobile cart. Shroff accesses the patient's entire medical history--a stack of paper in most private hospitals. And instead of trekking to the radiology lab to view the latest X-ray, she brings it up on her computer screen. While Shroff is visiting the patient, a resident types in a request for pain medication, then punches the SEND button. Seconds later, the printer in the hospital pharmacy spits out the order. The druggist stuffs a plastic bag of pills into what looks like a tiny space capsule, then shoots it up to the ward in a vacuum tube. By the time Shroff wheels away her computer, a nurse walks up with the drugs.

Life in a big-name institution like the Mayo Clinic? Not hardly. Shroff, 31, a specialist in internal medicine, works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington, where the vets who come for the cutting-edge treatment are mostly poor.

If you're surprised, that's understandable. Until the early 1990s, care at VA hospitals was so substandard that Congress considered shutting down the entire system and giving ex-G.I.s vouchers for treatment at private facilities. Today it's a very different story. The VA runs the largest integrated health-care system in the country, with more than 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes employing 14,800 doctors and 61,000 nurses. And by a number of measures, this government-managed health-care program--socialized medicine on a small scale--is beating the marketplace. For the sixth year in a row, VA hospitals last year scored higher than private facilities on the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on patient surveys on the quality of care received. The VA scored 83 out of 100; private institutions, 71. Males 65 years and older receiving VA care had about a 40% lower risk of death than those enrolled in Medicare Advantage, whose care is provided through private health plans or HMOs, according to a study published in the April edition of Medical Care. Harvard University just gave the VA its Innovations in American Government Award for the agency's work in computerizing patient records.

And all that was achieved at a relatively low cost. In the past 10 years, the number of veterans receiving treatment from the VA has more than doubled, from 2.5 million to 5.3 million, but the agency has cared for them with 10,000 fewer employees. The VA's cost per patient has remained steady during the past 10 years. The cost of private care has jumped about 40% in that same period.

How Veterans' Hospitals Became the Best in Health Care - TIME

Oh Chris... really?

I didn't think there was anyone that didn't know most VA hospitals were performing miserably.

I recently had to see a specialist. I won't go into details, the old ladies here are much too rabid, but my bf found me a great doc and paid the bill. I felt like I'd stepped into the future. If you want the very best health care, IMO, you will find a great doc and pay them yourself. HMO's suck. PPO's suck. And I'm betting anything the gov't cooks up will make HMO's and PPO's look like they know what they're doing.

I think everyone in the world should get the very best health care. I wish there was a way to provide it. I'm like a bleeding heart Lib where health is concerned, but.... I don't think what I've heard so far is the solution. Is reform needed? Absolutely. Have I heard a workable idea from the Dems? No F'ing way. And holding up the VA as the beacon of hope... I wish it were true, Chris, truly I do, but I know better.

One thing I like about the people here is that they never bother to read the articles at the links. Best to remain ignorant.

So we should follow your example? :lol::lol::lol:
 
Most private hospitals can only dream of the futuristic medicine Dr. Divya Shroff practices today. Outside an elderly patient's room, the attending physician gathers her residents around a wireless laptop propped on a mobile cart. Shroff accesses the patient's entire medical history--a stack of paper in most private hospitals. And instead of trekking to the radiology lab to view the latest X-ray, she brings it up on her computer screen. While Shroff is visiting the patient, a resident types in a request for pain medication, then punches the SEND button. Seconds later, the printer in the hospital pharmacy spits out the order. The druggist stuffs a plastic bag of pills into what looks like a tiny space capsule, then shoots it up to the ward in a vacuum tube. By the time Shroff wheels away her computer, a nurse walks up with the drugs.

Life in a big-name institution like the Mayo Clinic? Not hardly. Shroff, 31, a specialist in internal medicine, works at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington, where the vets who come for the cutting-edge treatment are mostly poor.

If you're surprised, that's understandable. Until the early 1990s, care at VA hospitals was so substandard that Congress considered shutting down the entire system and giving ex-G.I.s vouchers for treatment at private facilities. Today it's a very different story. The VA runs the largest integrated health-care system in the country, with more than 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes employing 14,800 doctors and 61,000 nurses. And by a number of measures, this government-managed health-care program--socialized medicine on a small scale--is beating the marketplace. For the sixth year in a row, VA hospitals last year scored higher than private facilities on the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on patient surveys on the quality of care received. The VA scored 83 out of 100; private institutions, 71. Males 65 years and older receiving VA care had about a 40% lower risk of death than those enrolled in Medicare Advantage, whose care is provided through private health plans or HMOs, according to a study published in the April edition of Medical Care. Harvard University just gave the VA its Innovations in American Government Award for the agency's work in computerizing patient records.

And all that was achieved at a relatively low cost. In the past 10 years, the number of veterans receiving treatment from the VA has more than doubled, from 2.5 million to 5.3 million, but the agency has cared for them with 10,000 fewer employees. The VA's cost per patient has remained steady during the past 10 years. The cost of private care has jumped about 40% in that same period.

How Veterans' Hospitals Became the Best in Health Care - TIME

Oh Chris... really?

I didn't think there was anyone that didn't know most VA hospitals were performing miserably.

I recently had to see a specialist. I won't go into details, the old ladies here are much too rabid, but my bf found me a great doc and paid the bill. I felt like I'd stepped into the future. If you want the very best health care, IMO, you will find a great doc and pay them yourself. HMO's suck. PPO's suck. And I'm betting anything the gov't cooks up will make HMO's and PPO's look like they know what they're doing.

I think everyone in the world should get the very best health care. I wish there was a way to provide it. I'm like a bleeding heart Lib where health is concerned, but.... I don't think what I've heard so far is the solution. Is reform needed? Absolutely. Have I heard a workable idea from the Dems? No F'ing way. And holding up the VA as the beacon of hope... I wish it were true, Chris, truly I do, but I know better.

One thing I like about the people here is that they never bother to read the articles at the links. Best to remain ignorant.

Oh I need to quote the article for credibility? Did you read it?

Vets still gripe about wading through red tape for treatment. Some 11,000 have been waiting 30 days or more for their first appointment.

30 days? Really? Is this the utopia we can expect?

But that created a new problem. The VA's budget from Congress (currently about $30 billion annually) couldn't cover the influx. By January 2003, with hundreds of thousands waiting six months or more for their first appointment, the VA began limiting access to only vets with service-related injuries or illness or those with low income.

6 months? Yea, this is the VA I'm familiar with.

Ok, so you say this is proof gov't run health care would be good, what about this, from your article?

Congress has no plans to enlarge the scope of veterans' health care--much less consider it a model for, say, a government-run system serving nonvets.

Fail, fail, fail, Chris. Your article disproves your hypothesis.

Did you read it before you posted it? It basically talks about 1 facility that is doing ok, but goes on to make the point that it isn't typical and won't be the model for gov't run health care. Is this what you meant by counting on people NOT to read the article?
 
Oh Chris... really?

I didn't think there was anyone that didn't know most VA hospitals were performing miserably.

I recently had to see a specialist. I won't go into details, the old ladies here are much too rabid, but my bf found me a great doc and paid the bill. I felt like I'd stepped into the future. If you want the very best health care, IMO, you will find a great doc and pay them yourself. HMO's suck. PPO's suck. And I'm betting anything the gov't cooks up will make HMO's and PPO's look like they know what they're doing.

I think everyone in the world should get the very best health care. I wish there was a way to provide it. I'm like a bleeding heart Lib where health is concerned, but.... I don't think what I've heard so far is the solution. Is reform needed? Absolutely. Have I heard a workable idea from the Dems? No F'ing way. And holding up the VA as the beacon of hope... I wish it were true, Chris, truly I do, but I know better.

One thing I like about the people here is that they never bother to read the articles at the links. Best to remain ignorant.

Oh I need to quote the article for credibility? Did you read it?



30 days? Really? Is this the utopia we can expect?

But that created a new problem. The VA's budget from Congress (currently about $30 billion annually) couldn't cover the influx. By January 2003, with hundreds of thousands waiting six months or more for their first appointment, the VA began limiting access to only vets with service-related injuries or illness or those with low income.

6 months? Yea, this is the VA I'm familiar with.

Ok, so you say this is proof gov't run health care would be good, what about this, from your article?

Congress has no plans to enlarge the scope of veterans' health care--much less consider it a model for, say, a government-run system serving nonvets.

Fail, fail, fail, Chris. Your article disproves your hypothesis.

Did you read it before you posted it? It basically talks about 1 facility that is doing ok, but goes on to make the point that it isn't typical and won't be the model for gov't run health care. Is this what you meant by counting on people NOT to read the article?
and chris gets PWN3D again

:clap2:
 

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