New Health Initiatives Put Spotlight on Prevention

The new Healthcare legislation, whether you like it or not, is getting ready to take full effect. One of the good parts of the bill (or recent additions to it), is the focus on prevention. As we all have learned, our healthcare system is amazing at treating the sick. However, that is also one problem: everything, including payments to hospitals and doctors, is biased to sick care.

As in anything in life, the earlier we can treat a problem (or bug in app development speak), the cheaper and more effective it is. The new legislation puts more money toward healthy lifestyles, annual checkups, and preventative care tests. This will pay dividends in spades as more people enter the health insurance system. However, my concern s though we are creating the infrastructure for people to be preventative, will it be used properly?

For example, something I constantly harp on: I cant get my doctor to get a calendar that goes a year out so I don't have to remember to schedule my appointment later in the year. It's all about small, effective nudges, not always about big, booming solutions.

From The New York Times:

New Health Initiatives Put Spotlight on Prevention

With little fanfare, Congress approved wide-ranging plans to prevent disease and encourage healthy behavior.

http://s.nyt.com/u/HNg

Posted via email from Suneil Mandava's Posterous