According to an article in the New York Times, President Obama is singing the praises of Atul Gawande’s “The Cost Conundrum,” which was recently published in The New Yorker magazine. Gawande’s piece investigates the geographic variations in health care cost per person, in particular McAllen, TX—the most expensive place in the US for health care. The piece is certainly impressive, calling attention to the fact that higher spending is often not associated with better health outcomes.
How’s this for a fun fact? When it comes to maternity care and primary care, midwives achieve positive patient outcomes using minimal costly interventions. Want to give us a hand with improving access to midwives? Tell your legislator to support the Midwifery Care Access and Reimbursement Act of 2009 (HR 1101 and S 662).
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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2 comments:
Sent my letters last week to Baucus, Tester, and Rehberg from Montana, hope all you did the same!
I am a CNM in home birth practice in Missouri. I feel that the health care reform needs to be directed toward incentives for practicing based upon research. Give practices, hospitals, and professionals incentives to practice in a way that produces the best outcomes. Money talks. If hospitals have midwives providing care in their facilities provide financial incentives. If they have agreements with midwives doing birth center births/home births give them financial incentives. If their statistics-C sections are below 15% give them financial incentives. If they don't do these things penalize them. Even evaluation by creditially agencies would not be of highest standard if they did not meet the standards of quality maternity care. Grants to midwives to develop their own practice, incentives for obstetricians to work with midwives. These are the changes that need to happen in the reform to ensure change occurs for women.
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