Category: Uncategorized

  • Un par de ideas sobre el Affordable Healthcare Act

    Un par de ideas sobre el Affordable Health Care Act

    Llego un poco tarde a la discusión… El Affordable Health Care Act  (ACA) va a cambiar al futuro de los Estados Unidos. Comienzo con la premisa que la ley no es perfecta, pero definitivamente se puede mejorar con nuestras iniciativas. Para los hispanos es una gran oportunidad de poder tener seguro, hoy en dia aproximadamente 40% no cuenta con ningún servicio de salud, NO ESTOY INCLUYENDO INDOCUMENTADOS EN ESA CIFRA (http://www.healthcare.gov/news/brochures/latinos-top5.pdf), siendo propensos a utilizar los servicios de urgencias como único contacto para obtener servicios de salud.

    Dentro de nuestro entrenamiento y practica medica, si un paciente llega a urgencias con una emergencia médica, pongamos el ejemplo de un politraumatisado, stroke o infarto; cuando entra al hospital, teniendo minutos para salvar la vida de esta persona, NO SE PREGUNTA SI TIENE SEGURO O NO… En caso de que no tenga seguro (como es un gran porcentaje de personas de entre los 20 a 40 años por que piensan que a ellos no les puede pasar…), nosotros terminamos pagando por ellos. Realmente abogo por la igualdad de derechos para todos los pacientes, y sobre todo por lo que es justo. Gracias al ACA, ellos van a poder tener un seguro, disminuyendo el costo de los servicios. Es muy sencillo, entre más personas entren el “pool” más barato va a ser. En los personal, NUNCA en mi vida pregunte a una persona si tenía seguro o no antes de tratarlo en una emergencia médica.

    Muchas personas han incluido la idea falsa “las primas” van a subir, lo cual a sido reprochado por nuestra actualidad habiendo una baja en primas en lo general. Además, antes que pasara o no el ACA, las aseguradoras y muchos del Estado Republicanos ya habían prometido no cambiar algunas de las propuestas como la inclusión de los jóvenes menores de 26 años al seguro de los padres,  no limitar las pólizas entre otras.

    Y tomando en cuenta la ley 80/20, donde las aseguradoras tienen que invertir el 80% de sus costos en SALUD en lugar de “COSTOS ADMINISTRATIVOS”, y en dado caso que tuvieran un excedente, pagar la diferencia entre sus miembros, LO CUAL YA SUCEDIÓ.

    Sobre los pagos a los médicos, hay un gran problema en este país, es una realidad que se necesita el influjo de International Medical Graduates para mantener el sistema, además de que va a ver una falta de alrededor de 90,000 medicos en los siguientes 15 años. Por lo cual el ACA provee subir los salarios a los “Primary Health Providers” (Pediatras, Family Practitioners, etc), para poder dar los servicios básicos de prevención y tratamiento a la población.

    Definitivamente estamos creciendo y aprendiendo de nuestro sistema, cambiando los factores de volumen por calidad. La ley no es perfecta, pero es perfeccionable, Y ESO DEPENDE DE NOSTROS COMO MÉDICOS Y EDUCARNOS PARA PODER HACER MEJORES DECISIONES, TRANSMITIENDO LA INFORMACIÓN A NUESTROS PACIENTES, con el único objetivo real: Mejorar la vida.

  • Nice summary from major polls for the Me

    Nice summary from major polls for the Mexican Presidential Election that is TODAY http://ow.ly/bWoNB

  • Do you realy know about the Affordable H

    Do you realy know about the Affordable Healthcare Act? An intresting document from Kaiser, regarding the #ACA http://ow.ly/bN2ZJ

  • I had the honor to be a A. Gene Copello

    I had the honor to be a A. Gene Copello Physician Leadership Fellow for the National Physician Alliance

  • I’m pregnant… Do I get my baby Stem cells, do I buy it or not?:

    Have you ever thought of getting your future baby  cord stem cells? Do they Work? Is it worth it…

    Well, for disclosure purposes, we did… I will walk you up our, thoughts, ideas and of course the bottom line. On a daily basis we here about all this weird diseases, and how they start from nowhere and they would be saved by stem cells… First of all, stem cell are the type of cells that can potentially  be converted to any cell of the body, technology and medicine has been advancing to cover and to be used for more than 70 diseases, and the potential is limitless , but  sadly, we are not there yet. Making this point, you can potentially, at birth , have a little assurance that in the future, the list will grow and you will have in a  storage somewhere, blood and/or tissue of your baby that could save his/her life. The idea is incredible, but not that simple. We ask ourselves:

    1) Do we want to have it? The answer was simple (and probably all parents will say the same thing) YES YES YES AND YES! Even that the possibility is really  low,  it’s worth it “to protect your baby”   (I imagine that is part of why  these companies marketing, they got us…),   is like buying  life insurance… You aspect not to use it but it’s good to have it.

    2)  What’s the cost? It was a decision “make it or break it” moment… There are a couple of big names… From public to private companies,  with different plans, offers and guarantees. And with monthly plans …  My advice: call every company, ask them to send you information, look at the numbers (how many times the clients have needed the  cells and how many times they actually worked, how long have they been in business, ask for everything…  And If you need more questions to ask just send me a msg, I can gladly help you out) .. We found a nice price, that was the number that we had in our minds,  and we  chose a  company that had good numbers, good quality, long-standing, and a nice  $ package…  You need to consider that if doing this, if your household budget will be painfully affected, DON’T DO IT… I will explain why later on…

    3) Ok… Now, we want this, we have a nice company and a payment plan, do I need to pay for the “special offer” to prepay 20 years for storage? I  don’t think it’s worth it, at the  speed that technology is moving forward, this technology will be obsolete , my best guess is more or less 10 years, when the medicine nobel price will  be “how to create tissue, organs and  fix disease with skin cells” (I chose skin cells because they are  relatively easy to collect… It could be anything…). For this reason, we chose NOT to pay the 20 year something prepaid package.

    After you sign up, they will send you a kit, it has everything that you need to know, and the human salesperson, that will be in contact with you will explain  everything, and most Obstetrics doctors will know what to do with it… IT’S IMPERATIVE TO HAVE IT IN YOUR “WAY OUT BAG” for the hospital.

            4) AND WHAT DO WE DO IF WE DON’T, FOR ANY REASON DO IT, WOULD WE BE BAD PARENTS AND OUR BABY WILL DIE FROM A HORRIBLE DISEASE  BECAUSE WE DID NOT DID IT? The real answer is NO.  Now there is new technology to extract from the “baby teeth” cells that could be potentially used for most of the diseases.

    G-d willing, we would never need to use it… But it will be stored,  somewhere safe  and in our mind will have a check mark, right there with life /disability insurance, looking only to protect our family

  • ARE YOU PLANNING TO BREAST FEED YOUR KID

    ARE YOU PLANNING TO BREAST FEED YOUR KIDS?
    If the answer is yes… Do you know how to start? What are the common pitfalls??? Justa couple of ideas:
    1) READ READ AND READ
    2) Ask people that have done it, you need to be motivated… Trust me… A bottle of “formula” sounds sexy at a 3am feeding with a crying daughter!
    3) Understand that you will have learning process… And that not all anatomies are a like… ANY COMMENTS?? ANY TIPS FOR NEW BREASTFEEDING PARENTS???

  • For Pediatricians… More problems with

    For Pediatricians… More problems with Staph infections…
    http://ow.ly/b9JTF

  • New series for PARENTS / Nueva serie par

    New series for PARENTS / Nueva serie para PADRES: THE UNOFFICIAL MANUAL ON HOW A PEDIATRICIAN BECOMES A FATHER http://ow.ly/b6TzE