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Yes, we can put chronic patients first and lower costs simultaneously (The Hill)
May 16The Hill | Our health-care system can be overwhelming for those of us in the best of health. This is especially true of those living with serious and life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer or heart disease — who are juggling multiple doctors, diagnoses, treatment regimens and social stressors. Patients cycle in and out of hospitals…
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Better Healthcare at Lower Costs (AHIP 2016)
Jun 16NOTES FROM THE ROAD | I had the privilege of speaking yesterday at America’s Health Insurance Plans Institute and Expo. Along with Bernard Tyson (Kaiser Permanente) and David Bernd (Sentara Healthcare), I discussed “Better Health Care at Lower Cost: Is It Possible?” You know my answer: It is absolutely possible with technology. In case you…
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Call for a Conversation: Alzheimer’s in Tonight’s Debate
Sep 16Tonight, when Republican candidates, vying for the White House, debate one another at the presidential library and final resting place of President Ronald Reagan, they should honor his memory and address the illness that claimed his life and the lives of 700,000 Americans annually: Alzheimer’s disease, the sixth-leading cause of death in our nation. Reagan…
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Compensating for End of Life Conversations Is Important First Step
Jun 29The Obama Administration is soon scheduled to release the proposed 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which determines what and how much providers can bill for health care services. The administration can choose to compensate providers for offering voluntary counseling services to patients and families about end-of-life care options, and I strongly urge it to do…
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A Charge to Press Forward on Alzheimer’s Research
May 27Heart transplantation revolutionized healthcare in a way that’s hard to comprehend. What was once a death sentence–sometimes without warning–became surmountable. People got their lives back. We need the same revolution in Alzheimer’s research. The answer will be different; transplant can’t solve this problem. But just because the way forward is unclear, we can’t stop pushing…
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It’s National Health Care Decisions Day: Who will you designate?
Apr 16End-of-life planning is an important part of healthcare. It’s a refrain I’ve been repeating. I’ve called for changes in care models, payment schemes, and physician education. But all of the needed changes aren’t at the system level. There are steps that every individual must take as well. Along with Gary Dodd, a palliative care nurse…
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Training the Next Generation of Doctors in Palliative Care Is the Key to the New Era of Value-Based Care (Academic Medicine)
Mar 1ACADEMIC MEDICINE I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. —Hippocrates We would like to think Hippocrates made this statement about the field of palliative care. Considering the state of medical practice during Hippocrates’s time, and the definition of palliative…
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The Physician’s Role and End-of-Life
Jan 29Over the past several months, I’ve been championing a revolution in end-of-life care. The care models need to change. Reimbursement strategies need to change. The way we think and talk about end-of-life needs to change. And physician education needs to change. We, as doctors, need a new perspective on our role as healers and what…
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Join me to Discuss Palliative Care: We know we need it, but how will the system pay for it?
Sep 3UPDATED: If you missed the event, the entire webinar broken down by speaker is archived online. On September 10, 1 pm EDT, I and some friends will be speaking at a live, free webinar sponsored by the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) on palliative care. We certainly need it, but how will the…
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Digitize your own advanced-care plan
Dec 18(The Hill, December 18, 2013) End of life planning is so important. It’s a topic I’ve spoken on frequently. But it’s not just a plan that you need. Your family members must be able to find it when they need it. That’s why free, online tools like the ones My Directives offers are so valuable!…
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End-of-life stories give us impetus to learn
Dec 1(The Tennessean, December 1, 2013) By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. and Manoj Jain M.D. Authors’ note: This is the final of six parts. We are honored and extremely grateful that so many shared their family stories with us. We have preserved the stories but have changed individuals’ names. Over the past three months, as we…
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Notes from the Road: 2013 Health Care Investors Conference
Nov 21NASHVILLE | Last Wednesday, (Nov 13) I had the privilege of joining Bass, Berry and Sims and Deloitte at the 2013 Health Care Investors Conference. I sat down with Brad Smith, CEO of Aspire Health; Andrew Lasher, CMO of Aspire Health; and Anna Gene O’Neal, CEO of Alive Hospice, to discuss some of challenges and…
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End-of-life care plan can ensure wishes are respected
Nov 4(The Tennessean, November 4, 2013) By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. and Manoj Jain, M.D Fifth of six parts that will appear this fall “I would never have my mother, who has cancer, go through this,” a hospital case manager in her 50s says. “I would never have her be strapped to the bed. Never have a…
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Elderly need options for palliative care
Oct 20(The Tennessean, October, 20, 2013) By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. and Manoj Jain, M.D. A patient — we will call her Matilda — has thin, silvery hair, deep-set eyes and is in her mid-80s. She worked as a factory worker until she was widowed and now lives alone a few miles away from two working…
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We often avoid important conversation
Oct 6(The Tennessean, October 6, 2013) By Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. and Manoj Jain, M.D. When a patient’s lymph node biopsy came back as a rare form of lymphoma, he did not have long to live. In the six months before he died, he did not settle his family affairs or financial accounts. His doctors should…
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It’s never too early to discuss your final wishes
Sep 22(The Tennessean, September 22, 2013) By Manoj Jain, M.D. and Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. A week before my (Dr. Jain) elderly parents came for a long visit, I asked them if they would be willing to have a conversation about end-of-life planning. But it wasn’t until the day before they left that we sat at…
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Health care system should focus on easing patients’ lives
Jul 21Over the course of the past century, advances in public health and medical care have led to improvements in life expectancy that our ancestors would not have been able to imagine. Average life expectancy for Americans born in 2013 is approaching 80 years. While we now live longer and typically spend most of these years in good health, many live with advanced and complicated illnesses. Health problems that once caused death are now controllable as chronic conditions. With these chronic conditions comes the risk of chronic illness and chronic symptoms.
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How do you want to die?
Sep 11(The Week, Sept 11, 2012) It’s a fraught question, but unless we move beyond caricatured “death panels” and deal with grim realities thoughtfully and responsibly, we’re all in trouble. How do you envision death with dignity? I like to think of being at home in the comforting and supportive environment of family and friends. But…
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