Health Wonk Review Wishes You a Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day! On this day, we commemorate and thank those who have served our country, making incredible sacrifices to preserve those things we hold dear. We reflect upon their struggle, their dedication and their commitment to a greater purpose.

The bloggers who submitted posts for this week's Health Wonk Review have that same dedication and commitment to our nation, but in the health care arena. They reflected on the numerous changes and issues that we must address if we are to improve the health and health care of our nation. Most submissions focus on Initiative on the Future of Nursing report, the mid-term elections' effect on health reform and an old favorite - health care costs. Enjoy!

Future of Nursing Report

We will exercise our prerogative as the hosts of this week's edition, and suggest that you first check out the posts on INQRI's site! They begin with a blog carnival we hosted yesterday which features a selection of blog posts written by students with their reactions to the Future of Nursing report. I think you'll find their thoughts provocative, insightful and interesting.

Terri Schmitt at NurseStory was inspired by the IFN report to consider the "original purpose of nurses advancing their practice and how that purpose is just as relevant today as it was 40 years ago."

At the Disease Management Care Blog, Jaan Sidorov suggests that "dog whistle" politics (the use of rhetoric to signal deeper meaning to an attuned constituency) is behind the phrase "practice at the top of license" for non-physicians... A doctor who has decided (at least for the moment) to keep his thoughts about independently practicing nurses to himself, Sidorov encourages advocates for broadening scope of practice to be as clear as possible about what they mean.

Although she doesn't mention the Future of Nursing report in her post on the Nursing Staff Development blog, Teresa Heithaus does discuss in length one of its key points: the importance of lifelong learning and development for nurses. Her post details the challenges associated with research and publication from behind the "hospital firewall."

Mid-Term Elections and the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Last week's mid-term elections have have spurred great debate among health wonks everywhere, including on the web, where many pondered the future of the Affordable Care Act...

In advance of the overwhelming GOP victory last Tuesday, Joe Paduda at Managed Care Matters wrote about his anticipations for big Republican wins.

HealthInsurance.org/blog editor Steve Anderson discussed possible changes to the funding for health reform. At the same site, Chuck Smith-Dewey pondered then-candidate and now-Senator Rand Paul's idea of requiring that seniors pick up of the first $2,000 of medical expenses that are currently paid for by Medicare.

Over at The Lucidicus Project, Jared Rhoads provides all the reasons that the Republican party has gained themselves a new voter.

Over at the Health Business Blog, David E. Williams (cofounder of MedPharma Partners and blog author) provides the transcript of his conversation with Dan Mendelson (President and CEO of Avalere Health, a health care business and policy advisory firm) one day after the mid-term elections about the impact on health reform.

Over at Insureblog, Henry Stern shares a recent conversation with a physician regarding his profession's view on accountable care organizations.

David Harlow at HealthBlawg, discusses the Office of Inspector General's new Roadmap for New Physicians, while explaining that it will probably need to be revised once provisions for accountable care organizations change under the ACA.

On the Health Affairs blog, Linda Berthgold questions what an "essential benefit" looks like under the ACA.

Health Care Costs

One of the Incidental Economists, Austin Frakt, discusses the range of ideas on controlling health care costs.

NCPA President John Goodman says the real problem in health care is not now, and never has been, prices. It is the suppression of real markets.

And in other news...

At her blog, On Your Meds: Straight Talk about Medication Safety, Barbara Olson discusses a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine and provides tips regarding the "hunt for safe prescribing practices." (FYI: this blog is on Medscape which requires that you create a free account to log in.)

Verna Dutton at @nursingpins Amplified, writes an open letter to the Nevada State Board of Nursing regarding the case of two nurses accused of intentionally harming patients.

The Healthcare Economist, Jason Shafrin, explains that although pay-for-performance (P4P) is one of the primary tools used to support healthcare delivery reform, there is a lack of uniformity in the development and implementation of P4P.

On the HealthNewsReview Blog, Gary Schwitzer assesses eight mainstream news media outlets' stories on the National Lung Screening Trial and finds that most of them... excepting NPR... were lacking in their coverage.

At Healthcare Technology News, Rich Elmore wonders what will happen to quality of care and patient outcomes if electronic health records are unequally deployed.

Over at his Healthcare IT Blog, Neil Versel suggests that patients be empowered to enter their own medical information, putting quality controls in the hands of the consumer.

One patient who is indeed empowered is Jonathan Morgan, who chronicles his own healthcare journey at his Spondylosis Treatment blog. Check out his tips for strengthening exercises.