Rocky D. Bilhartz | Taking Back Medicine

Author: Rocky D. Bilhartz (page 7 of 9)

The Journey Toward No Medicine At All

April 28, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 6 Comments

You gotta hand it to our Health Department. They are laser focused on this one. They want 85% of payments made to doctors by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to be linked to clinical quality measures within the next two years.

Moreover, I suspect the Health Department is still giddy from Congress passing a new healthcare bill earlier this month. The legislation implements a number of controversial things for a nation built on the premise of freedom, but one of these is to push medical providers into unproven “alternative payment organizations” in order to move away from what has become known as fee-for-service.

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Taking Back Medicine

April 20, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 23 Comments

I’m taking back Medicine.

If you didn’t know it left or that someone stole it, I’ll give you a pass. Medicine has been disguised for a long time now. And, when you leave the scene in camouflage, you often go unnoticed.

Medicine is supposed to be the science or practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease. I love medicine. There’s so much to learn. Lots of complexities and so many people to help. Medicine gives me an avenue to serve, because if we don’t have our health, what do we have? Illness. And, none of us want that.

I’ve trained to be a physician. I’ve learned lots of things that can help you with sickness. But, in order to do this, THEY have to let me practice. And, yes, THEY are the people who have taken Medicine.

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Response to ACC President on ABIM MOC and SGR Legislation

April 11, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 8 Comments

Dr. Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, FACC, is President of The American College of Cardiology (ACC). My comments below are in response to his “An Important Message From the ACC President on ABIM MOC and SGR Legislation,” which was posted April 10, 2015 at ACC in Touch Blog.

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The Real Story of Value over Volume in Medicine

April 10, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 6 Comments

This is important to you. Trust me.

If you’re young at heart, it matters because it’s your tax dollars this April. If you’re wiser in years, it directly affects your health and the system you’ve been pumping money into for decades. This is the same medical system that you thought would take care of you later in life. Again, this is about your money and your health, so read on.

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The American Way of Pseudo Health Insurance

April 3, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 4 Comments

ACA

You’re 56 years old. You’re one of the 30 million people (give or take a bunch) that you hear have received health insurance in this country as a result of the Affordable Care Act. You are a positive number in the New York Times headlines the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have been wanting you to read. And, this is how it’s working out for you.

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March Madness

March 25, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 2 Comments

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When March Madness gets to be too much–when too many commentators impair your watching and too much swagger overshadows the coaching–turn off your television. Head outside with your first grader. Bring a basketball. Find a goal. You’ll absorb more life lessons in twenty minutes shooting baskets with your son than you’ll get in the next twenty years at your job. Give it a try. A few buckets. You won’t regret it.

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The Nonsense Alphabet Begins With P-Q-R-S

March 11, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 4 Comments

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It has become perhaps the silliest four letters in healthcare: PQRS. It stands for Physician Quality Reporting System. It’s another this and another that created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). After you read this, you’ll be like me, scratching your head trying to understand why anyone thinks our healthcare system is better under CMS’s leadership.

CMS has setup a thing called PQRS, so physicians across the country can submit data informing the government how well they are practicing medicine. I wish that I could ease your understanding of this acronym by just referring to it as “quality data,” but it no more represents quality than a coin flip. In fact, statistically, a coin flip is probably better. PQRS is like the fisherman explaining to the rancher the type of fish that he caught. Actually, it’s nothing like that. It’s more like the fisherman’s boat explaining to the rancher’s cow the very same thing. Basically, the rancher sums it up: “Ain’t nobody have a clue what’s really going on here.”

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National Board of Physicians and Surgeons: Rising to the Occasion

February 28, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 1 Comment

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Something is new this year, a silver lining among all the madness in healthcare right now. Practicing physicians finally have a choice. We have a voice again in medicine, and you will know who to thank for it in a minute.

A whole lot of fishy stuff has been going on for quite a while regarding physician board certification in this country, and it’s only fitting that the Ivory Tower is starting to sway under pressure. A medical license in the United States is granted by law, but board certifications are received from independent organizations– many of which now appear to be glaringly similar to country clubs with odd requirements and pricey dues.

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), essentially a subsidiary of the much larger American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), is one group in recent years that has generated astronomical revenues through certifying physicians. I’ve previously explained how certification might be the universal scam, but just know that more than 22,000 physicians have now signed a petition challenging ABIM’s practices.

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Looking for Craftsmen, Finding Red Tape

February 26, 2015 / Rocky D. Bilhartz / 2 Comments

I’ve got dozens of peculiarities with my personality. In fact, my wife might say that’s a conservative estimate.

I get frustrated when the collar of my polo shirt curls up in the humidity. I’m amazed that you can’t make a moisture-wicking white undershirt that doesn’t wrinkle, doesn’t fade to light gray with months of washing, and whose logo won’t show through a white dress shirt. If you find one of these, send me a message, and I’ll purchase a dozen.

I don’t buy the “off-brand” bottled water anymore, at least not the kind they sell at my local grocery store. Why? Does it taste different? Not to me. My taste buds are so bland, I probably wouldn’t know if I were drinking salt water. The reason is that 1 in 10 of the off-brand plastic bottles actually upsets me. The bottle upsets me, not the water. The wrapper just won’t stay glued to the plastic bottle long enough for me to finish drinking it. It starts to peal off, and yes, this bothers me. It’s just glue, and you ought to be able to get that right.

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