Implications of Consumer-Driven Healthcare

Navicure is sponsoring a complimentary webinar about consumer-driven healthcare. I'll post a link of the archived webinar when it becomes available. In the meanwhile, I'd like us to consider how consumer-driven healthcare will change the way providers do business.


The upcoming webinar will address these points:

    * The importance of quality, pricing and patient satisfaction as it relates to consumer-driven healthcare.
    * How consumer-driven healthcare impacts your bottom line.
    * Strategies for providers to increase patient collections at the point of service.

As healthcare undergoes reform on this country, will consumers become more empowered so they can make informed medical decisions? Will health insurance plans converge and look very similar, or will we still live in a world filled with HMOs, PPOs, and other types of managed care plans. What will happen to CDHPs or consumer-directed health plans and health savings accounts or HSAs? Will we see greater momentum with health insurance exchanges? The health insurance marketplace is definitely changing and I'm curious to see how this industry evolves as reform takes place in this country. The public option will create competition, so how will private insurers react?

Upcoming healthcare reform summit

Media Advisory: Influential politics and healthcare publisher to host 1-day healthcare reform summit

Governor Dean, Senator Barrasso and Other Political and Healthcare Heavyweights to Speak on October 7 Panel

Politics magazine will convene an influential panel on October 7, 2009, to discuss the future of healthcare reform. The event, hosted in partnership with the influential publications Pharmacy Times, The American Journal of Managed Care, and the web portal HCPLive.com, will cover the political, economic, and patient care ramifications of the reform plans under review.

The distinguished panel of speakers includes:

• Governor Howard Dean, MD
• Senator John Barrasso, MD
• Congressman Michael Burgess, MD
• Christopher J. Badgley, Vice President State Government Affairs, PhRMA
• Julie Barnes, Deputy Director, Health Policy Program, New America Foundation
• Michael Chernew, PhD, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School
• Former Congressman Martin Frost
• Carol Kelly, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy, National Association of Chain Drug Stores
• John Rother, Executive Vice President of Policy and Strategy, AARP

Attendance at the live event is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. For those unable to attend the event, enduring materials will be available on HCPLive.com, including web exclusive articles and video segments of the proceedings.

WHEN
October 7, 2009

WHERE
Charlie Palmer Steak
101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

AGENDA
7am- 8am breakfast/ networking reception

8am- 9am
The Future of Healthcare Reform and Public Funding
What positive reforms could be passed? What will happen if healthcare reform doesn’t pass? How will mandates affect the insured and uninsured, employers and workers, and the cost and quality of health care? How will reform affect the way clinicians practice medicine and the quality of care patients receive? Is fair competition between public and private insurance feasible? And how would it affect the cost and quality of care?

• Senator John Barrasso, MD
• Congressman Michael Burgess, MD
• Former Congressman Martin Frost
• Moderator: Julie Barnes

9am- 10am
The Implications of Healthcare Reform for Patients, Pharmacy and the Healthcare System
Whether or not a “public option” is included as part of the health reform plan, the impact of reform will be felt across all sectors of healthcare, including physician practices, pharmacies, the pharmaceutical industry, employers, health insurers, and patients. This panel will include a lively discussion about how these groups can best position themselves in the new healthcare environment, what role Washington advocacy will play in helping these organizations get their voices heard, and what healthcare practitioners and industry can expect when reform legislation passes.

• Christopher Badgley, PhRMA
• Governor Howard Dean, MD
• Carol Kelly, NACDS
• John Rother, AARP
• Moderator: Dr. Michael Chernew, Harvard Medical School and co-Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Managed Care

RSVP REQUIRED
http://politicsmagazine.com/seminars-events

Is a co-op the right model for health insurance?

Are you familiar with the co-op or cooperative model for health insurance? A co-op is a non-profit, member-run system for providing insurance plans. HealthPartners is one of the largest co-ops in the U.S. According to CNN, HealthPartners currently has a network of 70 facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin and serves more than a million members. I wonder what physician reimbursement looks like in the HealthPartners co-op model. Perhaps it's not very different from billing a commercial health plan. Could it be better?

At the end of the day, we're all looking for affordable healthcare. If you're unemployed and uninsured, you may be looking for a free option as well. So many ideas are being thrown around in the current healthcare debate. As things change, I wonder what this will do to the healthcare co-ops that are out there. You can read more about health insurance co-ops here: CNN Health article titled, " Dissecting a health care co-op"

'Arbitrary' health care policies?

Here's a quote from a recent CNN story:

An overhaul of health care policy will protect people with insurance from the "arbitrary" policies of the insurance industry while lowering their health care expenses, President Obama on Saturday told an audience in Grand Junction, Colorado.

How much do we really understand about insurance companies? We know that they frequently deny claims and make it very difficult to prescribe certain medications. It's a sad reality, but healthcare is a business. It's a business to physicians and it's a business to the payers. It's also a business to the government and Obama now wants to get seriously involved. He's quoted as saying: "We're going to ban arbitrary caps on benefits. And we'll place limits on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses."

Read the entire CNN story here.

Whistle-blower: Health care industry engaging in PR tactics

This is an interesting story on CNN: Whistle-blower: Health care industry engaging in PR tactics

Wendell Potter is a former vice president of corporate communications at Cigna. According to CNN:

He left his post in 2007 after Cigna's controversial handling of an insurance claim made by the family of a California teenager, Nataline Sarkysian. The Sarkysian family made repeated appeals at news conferences for Cigna to approve a liver transplant for the 17-year-old, who had leukemia. Cigna initially declined to cover the operation, then reversed its decision. Sarkysian died hours after the company's reversal.

In early July, Potter testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, telling senators that "I know from personal experience that members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty and trustworthiness of the insurance industry."

Now a senior fellow on health care for the watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, Potter writes a blog on health care reform. He is focusing on efforts to defeat legislation supporting a government health care plan -- something he supports.

To read the CNN story, click here.
To view Wendell Potter's blog, click here.

Targeting Angiogenesis in Cancer

Anti-angiogenesis drugs work by blocking the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to prevent the growth of new capillaries into the tumor and thereby sustain tumor growth. They have significantly changed the landscape of oncology because of their effectiveness and their associated toxicities. There have been several new biologic agents that have been approved and more are coming down the pipeline. Here are a few agents that come to mind:

• Avastin (bevacizumab) is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits angiogenesis and it was approved in 2004. In fact, it was the first agent approved by the FDA to inhibit angiogenesis. Avastin targets vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
• Cediranib (tentative trade name Recentin), also known as AZD2171, is a potent inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases.
• Vatalanib (PTK/ZK) is a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor with broad specificity that targets all VEGF receptors (VEGFR), the platelet-derived growth factor receptor, and c-KIT.
• Sorafenib (Nexavar) is a multitargeted small molecule that inhibits VEGFR2, FLT3, PDGFR, and fibroblast growth factor receptor-1.
• The list goes on, but I'm going to stop here. This is a blog, not a medical review paper.

So why am I writing about these drugs? I'm curious: do you know who markets these drugs? Everyone probably knows Avastin (Genentech). What about Nexavar (Bayer/Onyx)? How about Recentin (AstraZeneca)? Vatalanib (Bayer Schering/Novartis).

It's exciting to see advances in cancer therapy, but in the spirit of recent healthcare reform discussions, I must ask, "who gets to decide how much (in terms of dollars) therapy a cancer patient should receive?" These biologic agents are very expensive and many patients are having tremendous difficulty paying for them. At what point does it make sense to deny coverage for therapy simply because it's too expensive? Never? I'm glad to I don't work in a managed care organization because these are some of the ethical issues that must get discussed on both an individual and a population level.

Why physicians will always lose the reimbursement game

Got another e-mail from Sermo's founder Daniel Palestrant, MD. This one was titled, "Why physicians will always lose the reimbursement game." If you're interested in seeing the contents of this letter, then you'll have to get on Sermo (which is currently only available for U.S. physicians).

If you've been following the news, you know that the House Democrats recently unveiled a massive health care reform plan. According to CNN, "House Democrats unveiled their revised version of health care reform Tuesday, offering a proposal that includes a government-funded health insurance option, requires both individuals and employers to participate, and taxes the wealthy to help cover costs... Democratic House leaders said the measure, titled "America's Affordable Health Choices Act," met the requirements set by President Obama for health care reform by lowering costs to consumers and businesses, letting people keep their current plan if desired, and preventing denial of coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions."

Specific provisions of the bill include:

-- A Health Insurance Exchange providing individuals and small business with choices for coverage, including a government-funded public option.

-- No more coverage exclusion for pre-existing conditions.

-- Affordability credits for low- and moderate-income individuals and families, available to those with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or $43,000 for individuals and $88,000 for a family of four.

-- Limits on annual out-of-pocket spending.

-- Expanded Medicaid coverage to individuals and families with incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level.

-- Required participation by individuals, with a penalty of 2.5 percent of adjusted gross income for non-compliance.

-- Requirement that businesses with payrolls exceeding $250,000 provide their employees with health coverage or contribute up to 8 percent of their payroll on their behalf.

-- A series of measures intended to reduce costs of Medicaid, Medicare and other existing systems.

So how will these changes impact physician reimbursement? If we're trying to cut costs in healthcare, then it seems only logical that we'll be cutting some costs in physician reimbursement (although this may impact certain specialties more than others). Will physicians choose to transition into non-clinical areas and leave clinical medicine? Read the CNN article here.

Q&A on Healthcare Reform

CNN has a nice Q&A about Obama's healthcare reform plan. I don't think anyone would argue that we desperately need to overhaul our existing healthcare system. Here are some snippets that I'd like to highlight (and offer my comments):

• Nearly 46 million Americans have no insurance, and 25 million more are underinsured.(this number seems to climb each year and will certainly rise as unemployment goes up)
  
• ... many employers have stopped offering insurance to employees because of the high cost. (rising insurance costs are killing small businesses)
  
• A central point of the president's plan is to create a government-sponsored health insurance program that would be an option for all Americans, similar to how Medicare is now an option for Americans over age 65. (some level of care is better than no care. what will this do to managed care?)
  
• If you receive high-quality health insurance from your employer, Obama said, his plan won't change that, and you can still keep your insurance and your doctors. (don't expect many changes if you already have good coverage)
  
• Obama said at the Green Bay town hall meeting that under his reforms, no insurance plan "would be able to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions," but he didn't explain how he would force insurance companies to insure people with pre-existing health problems. (if you have a pre-existing condition, you may get coverage, but it may cost you too)
• In the United States, every person spends on average $6,714 for health care. (do you know how much of this is due to unnecessary tests?)

Want to read the entire CNN article? Click here.

Future of CDHP

I was having a discussion the other day about the future of consumer-directed (or driven) health plans (CDHP). We live in a world where managed care dominates the healthcare industry. Under this new administration, many things in the healthcare system will change. Some are talking about universal health coverage. Will that be like the VA (Veterans Affairs) system? Will be turn into Canada? No one seems to know the answers to these questions, but one thing is clear: we need to reduce healthcare costs and also improve disease management.

I personally believe that technology will help patients with disease self-management. If we look at some of the conditions that burden the healthcare system, they would include things such as: diabetes, heart disease, heart failure, COPD, asthma, and many others. Patients who have any of these conditions must be very active in caring for their conditions. They must adhere to their medication regimen. They must follow-up appropriately with their healthcare providers. The use of modern technology is improving the care of some of these conditions. Glucose monitors and insulin pumps are becoming more sophisticated. Cardiac devices are saving lives at home. Home monitoring devices are improving care for millions of patients. Patients are receiving education through the Internet (although they're also getting misinformation).

Well, I've obviously gone on a tangent, but I will return to this topic of CDHP in a later post.

Another Physician Compensation Survey

According to the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) 2008 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey, physician pay went up in 2007 by roughly 3.5%. According to this report, medical specialties that experienced the lowest increases included allergy medicine, endocrinology, pulmonary medicine and emergency medicine. With Medicare reimbursement decreasing and managed care organizations trying to push pay-for-performance (P4P) and other initiatives, physician payment is all over the map for various specialties. The survey was conducted among 44,000 health care providers, 2,700 medical groups, and 116 specialties in the United States.

American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians

How do you pronounce ABQAURP? It stands for the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians. They offer Health Care Quality and Management (HCQM) Certification through an online study course and then a certification exam. Once certified, you can hang a certificate that says, "Diplomate of the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, Inc." The ABQAURP is the only Health Care Quality and Management organization with an exam developed, administered, and evaluated through the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). So, you may want to learn more if you have an interest in working in quality improvement, utilization management, managed care, risk management, case management and workers' compensation. 

Managed Care Terminology

If you're looking for a glossary of managed care terminology, take a look at this simple site:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/Progsys/forum/mcobib.htm

Here, you can decipher acronyms such as: DRG, EQRO, EPO, FFS, IPA, PRO, PCCM, PHP, POS, QMB, TEFRA, and more. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also has some additional resources about managed care that may be very helpful if you're interested in a career as a medical or pharmacy director in a health plan.

Hospital Pharmacy Performance Index by McKesson

McKesson has a new survey called the Hospital Pharmacy Performance Index. There's been a lot of talk about increasing physician performance, but there are significant needs to improve corporate performance at hospital and pharmacy levels. So how does your local hospital score? To find out, have your hospital take the online assessment here:
http://www.highperformancepharmacy.com/

The assessment is based on the 8 dimensions of pharmacy practice: leadership, medication preparation and delivery, patient care services, medication safety, medication use policy, financial performance, human resource management, and education.

Bureau of Labor Statistics on Healthcare Professional Salary

Here are the National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates from 2007. So many salary statistics tend to be inflated and completely inaccurate. I would hope that the government would provide more reliable data. By glancing through this list, you see physicians, pharmacists, nurses, therapists, and other clinicians.

It's very difficult to find salary surveys among non-clinical medical professionals because of the extremely wide range of figures that are out there. It's interesting to see salary ranges displayed within specific industries like: managed care medical directors; CME professionals; pharmaceutical physicians; finance/consulting/market research physicians.

Non-Clinical Medical Opportunities for Physicians and Other Clinicians

updated again on 9/15/2011

For more info, please visit (and bookmark) my other website that is devoted to non-clinical opportunities: 

http://www.NonClinicalJobs.com


If you're a physician and you're considering a non-clinical career, you may be wondering about all the opportunities out there. I get asked about this all the time. Over the years, I've had a chance to meet different physicians working in various companies and industries.

The following may apply even if you're not a physician. If you're a clinician (nurse, nurse practitioner or advanced practice nurse, pharmacist, physician assistant, medical assistant, medical researcher, podiatrist, physical therapist, psychologist, counselor, etc.), many of these opportunities may still be appropriate for you.

First, ask yourself what you enjoy. After all, if you don't enjoy clinical medicine, you don't want to end up doing something else you're not going to enjoy. Then, start networking like crazy. Leverage all the online social networking sites (like LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, etc.) and get reconnected with old colleagues, classmates, and friends. Find out what people are doing. They may help you get connected to some key people. You may find some of the best opportunities this way. If you're a woman, you may want to check out MomMD (www.mommd.com) and join a community of women who are seeking non-clinical opportunities ranging from part-time to full-time work.

The following list of opportunities is clearly non-exhaustive and many of these areas have significant overlap. This list is based on my personal interactions with people in these roles and as I meet more people, this list grows.

Here is my growing list of non-clinical opportunities for physicians (not in any particular order).

1. Healthcare administration, medical management, hospital administration, managed care - Are you a seasoned healthcare executive? Do you enjoy making administrative decisions? Then join the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) and run a hospital or a managed care organization. If you have a strong interest in managed care, then check out the NAMCP (National Association of Managed Care Physicians). You may want to get an MBA or an MMM (masters in medical management) if you don't already have one. An active US medical license is required for most (if not all) of these positions.

2. VC (venture capital), finance, Wall Street, market research, etc. - Got an MBA? If not, are you thinking of getting one? Some will argue that once you have an "M.D." after your name, it may not matter as much where you get your MBA. However, I would argue that your MBA is your path to networking opportunities, so where you get your MBA is critical if you want to have a solid network. Once you get your MBA, you can work for venture capital (VC) firms, dig into market research companies, or work for Wall Street. Heard of the Gerson Lehrman Group (www.glgroup.com)? No clinical experience necessary for many of these opportunities, but it's always helpful so that you can effectively communicate with KOLs (key opinion leaders) in the field. Many joint MD/MBA students have ventured directly into very successful careers this way. Also, an MBA is not necessary if you have some good business skills and understand the healthcare industry. You will need strong people skills and a willingness to work long hours.

3. Writing and medical communications (includes promotional education, certified CME/CE, consumer health education, and much more) - Do you enjoy writing? Many physicians and non-physicians have very successful careers as medical writers. The field is open to people who enjoy fiction writing, publications, research, or other types of writing. You can get involved working on journal publications, developing promotional content for marketing campaigns, or developing CME programs. Join the AMWA (American Medical Writers Association) and look for opportunities. You can work from home as a freelance writer and have a very flexible schedule. Or, you can work for a publisher or another type of healthcare communications company. You can find a list of some companies by looking at the North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies, Inc., (NAAMECC) website. No clinical experience necessary.

4. Technology and Informatics (health information technology, healthcare informatics, EHR/EMR, PHR) - Want to develop or improve an electronic health record (EHR) system? Do you love informatics? Then join the CCHIT (Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology), the AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association), and the AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association). Clinicians use EHRs and patients (or consumers) use PHRs (Personal Health Records). There are many companies attempting to integrate the data between PHRs and EHRs. There is a national initiative to improve and standardize public health informatics, so now is a great time to enter this industry. No clinical experience necessary, but you should be familiar with ICD, CPT, and other billing codes used in this industry.

5. Disease management, Personal health record (PHR) - Managed care organizations (MCOs) are always looking for better disease management (DM) programs for their plans. Some MCOs develop their own DM plans and others outsource them to external companies. These companies create and deliver various services to managed care organizations, including DM, wellness programs, personal health record (PHR) services, etc. Do you ever get educational pamphlets from your own health plan? Who puts them together? Who designs and develops these wellness and preventive health programs? It's not always WebMD. There are other companies that provide similar services.

6. Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Medical Device - If you're a medical specialist, there are many opportunities to do research for these companies. If you don't enjoy research, then you can develop marketing strategies. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements have become very popular these days. See all those ads in the medical journals? Get ready for that "corporate America" lifestyle if you plan to venture into industry. You may be working even more hours and carrying a Blackberry instead of a pager, but if you climb that "corporate ladder" and play the corporate game, you may qualify for an early retirement. Young people who are fast learners may be very aggressive and advance rapidly. Be prepared to have a younger boss if you're a seasoned clinician.

7. Independent medical examiner (IME), Expert witnessing, and Legal medicine - Personal injury, medical malpractice, nursing home care, etc. There are firms that specialize in specific areas (like nursing home cases). Want more information? Join the American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM). You can also become board certified by the American Board of Legal Medicine (ABLM).

8. Public health, population health, health policy, and government health - Get an MPH, join the APHA (American Public Health Association), and find a local health department. Or, join the CDC and travel the world. Develop strategies to improve population health. Some pharmaceutical companies also have public health sections and are very devoted to public health and international health (Pfizer in particular comes to mind). Bridge gaps in healthcare disparities. Work for the FDA or a state or local health agency.

9. Consulting - The world is open. Want to work for yourself or for a company? Many healthcare companies are looking for experts to help them develop, refine, and improve their products and services. It may be hard to get started unless you've already established connections. Once again, social networking becomes critical. Your initial success will depend more on who you know.

10. Research - Academia vs. private vs. industry vs. CRO. You don't have to go into industry to do research. Look for a Contract Research Organization (CRO) in your area. Join the ACRO (Association of Clinical Research Organizations). You may want to look at PPD (no, this is not the TB skin test). PPD is a large global CRO. Of course, there are also many other CROs.

11. Executive recruiting, search firm, headhunting, human resources - Physicians can work as an executive recruiter to hire and place other physicians. You can also work your way up and manage other recruiters who do the hiring. Remember, these 'head hunters' get paid a commission based on the salary of the person they place. The $ earning potential can be tremendous if you're successful.

12. Start a company - Have an innovative idea? Start a company! New companies seem to be sprouting all the time. Stay connected with people and keep your eyes open for new ideas. Get an MBA and meet people who can help you get a concept off the ground.

Not sure where to start? As I mentioned above, start building your social and professional network. Reconnect with people and ask many questions. Find people who are in various positions and ask them what they like/dislike.

Join some associations to build your network and to find companies. Note that some associations are specifically for physicians, but many are open to all types of healthcare professionals. Also, even those that are specifically for physicians (such as the ACPE) offer affiliate memberships for certain non-physicians.

ABLM: American Board of Legal Medicine
ACHE: American College of Healthcare Executives
ACLM: American College of Legal Medicine
ACPE: American College of Physician Executives
ACRO: Association of Clinical Research Organizations
AMDIS: Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems
AHIMA: American Health Information Management Association
AMIA: American Medical Informatics Association
AMWA: American Medical Writers Association
APHA: American Public Health Association
CCHIT: Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology
NAMCP: National Association of Managed Care Physicians
SoPE: Society of Physician Entrepreneurs

Thinking about getting an MBA? Read articles related to the MBA here.


I hope some of this is helpful. I'm always revising this as new information comes in, so check back to see what's new.

For more info, please visit (and bookmark) my other website that is devoted to non-clinical opportunities: 

http://www.NonClinicalJobs.com

Non-Clinical Medicine

To many people (including myself), the phrase "non-clinical medicine" sounds a bit odd. After all, the practice of medicine is clinical in nature.

Can you image the following conversation?

Q: "So what type of medicine do you practice?"
A: "I practice non-clinical medicine."
Q: "Oh, you mean like radiology or pathology?"

See, many people equate clinical medicine to seeing and treating patients. So if you're not actively engaged in direct patient contact and patient care, does that mean you're practicing non-clinical medicine? Not necessarily. The answer to the question above could also sound like this:

A: "No, I work behind in a company developing population-based disease management programs for managed care organizations."
or,
A: "No, I work in a medical education company developing continuing education programs for physicians, pharmacists, and nurses."
or,
A: "No, I now work in Wall Street"
or,
A: "No, I now work for the marketing division of a pharmaceutical company"
or,
A: "No, I work on developing market research surveys on different therapeutic topics."
or,
A: "No, I now work as a medical news reporter."

To some, the phrase "non-clinical medicine" means that you sit in an office and have full-time administrative duties. And yet to others, "non-clinical medicine" just means that you're no longer engaged in anything that directly relates with patient care.

Are public health physicians working in non-clinical medicine? Population health issues may conflict with direct patient care issues since population medicine needs to weigh decisions against the "greater good." Direct patient care is individualized medicine.

I've gone on quite a tangent, but the point I'd like to return to is this: non-clinical medicine is a very broad phrase that means different things to different people. So don't make any automatic assumptions about someone's career if they tell you that they are now engaged in pursuing a non-clinical career.

Non-Clinical Pharmacy Jobs in Managed Care

If you're a pharmacist, have you ever considered working for a managed care organization (MCO)? There are many different types of opportunities within managed care and to learn more, you should check out the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP).

With rising drug costs, there's a greater need to understand which drugs are most cost-effective within MCOs. So, if you really enjoy looking at numbers, playing around with different cost-effectiveness models, evaluating the ROI on disease management, and looking at ways to improve pay-for-performance (P4P), then consider working for an MCO. Maybe you'll be able to create a novel drug assistance program and help those patients who can't afford their meds. By then, many of those meds should be generic. I'm still waiting for the day when biologic agents go generic. Would you trust a generic biologic agent?

Looking for FREE continuing medical education CME/CE?

If you're looking for some free CME/CE credits before the year ends, then take a look at CMEcorner.com

You'll find certified CME/CE programs for physicians, PAs, nurses, NPs, and pharmacists. Most of the programs are online, but some are via CD-ROM or printed monograph. You can order programs and have them delivered to you for free.

CMEcorner.com also has programs specifically for managed care professionals. These programs are developed with the NAMCP. Managed care medical directors and pharmacy directors are often looking for CME/CE credits and they are generally less interested in clinical programs and want education focused on healthcare issues/costs/public health/etc.

Just got back from the NAMCP Fall Forum

I just got back from Las Vegas. I was there for the NAMCP fall managed care forum. It was an excellent meeting and I enjoyed listening to the speakers and interacting with medical directors from various managed care organizations. Because of the recent election, much discussion focused on health policy and reform. There were discussions focused on IPA/PHO/MSO. They made me want to read the book titled, "IPA, PHO, and MSO Development Strategies: Building Successful Provider Alliances." You can find this title on Amazon.

There was also a heavy focus on healthcare IT and genomics/pharmacogenomics. I enjoyed these disucssions since they emphasized how technology is impacting the health care environment for consumers, providers, and payors. Web 2.0 is making a tremendous impact on the way patients are making health decisions and providers and payors need to know how to leverage Web 2.0 resources.