| Our newest Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius made a speech yesterday on the 2008 National Healthcare Quality & Disparities reports, available here. From her press release: “Today’s reports show why we can’t wait to enact comprehensive health reform,” said Sebelius. “The status quo is unsustainable and we cannot allow millions of Americans to continue to go without the care they need and deserve.” The reports found: - 40% of recommended care is not received by patients.
- Only 40% of diabetic patients received three recommended diabetic preventive exams in the past year, and this rate has not improved over time.
- Only half of obese adults and children are given advice to exercise more and eat a healthy diet.
- Seven out of ten adults with mood, anxiety, or impulse disorders received inadequate treatment or no treatment at all.
- Disparities in health care persist. Minority patients receive disproportionately poor care compared to Caucasian patients. At least 60 percent of quality measures have not improved for minorities compared to Caucasians in the past six years.
- One in seven hospitalized Medicare patients experience one or more adverse event.
- Patient safety measures have worsened by nearly 1% each year for the past 6 years.
- Central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) strike hundreds of thousands of patients each year.
Patient safety has declined in part because of this rise in health care associated infections (HAI), infections that patients acquire during the course of their stay in a healthcare setting, such as a nursing home or a hospital. HAIs are among the top ten leading causes death in the United States, and drive up the cost of health care by up to $20 billion per year.
I hear from people who say that they don't want the government involved in health care because they'll be denied care. As I've written before, and as these new AHRQ reports show, "care" doesn't necessarily mean "cure" or even that one will survive the "care". When one of the top ten causes of death is HAI, there is something really wrong. When I preach about hand washing, it's not just about flu. Every single study accomplished on the subject has shown that improved hospital cleanliness (employees, equipment, etc.) leads to better patient outcomes. But when you're concerned with a profit motive above all else, if you can cut corners, you do. Government has no profit motive in health care, on a mission to provide care. An important distinction. Every time I hear "democrats" like Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln and the current thorn in my side, Arlen Specter, say that there should be no public option in any health care program because it's unfair to business, my head feels like it's going to explode. These people may think they are protecting their constituencies, but business doesn't vote, individual citizens vote. And you can't vote if you've been killed by the health care provision system. |
