Mandates 'decimating' medicine, and other letters

Our government is systematically decimating the practice of medicine in the U.S. The CMS called a long overdue “timeout” and solicited comments concerning how to rectify their disastrous electronic health-record mandates. The current immature, rushed, proprietary EHR technology fails to meet the objectives intended to improve quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare. Unscrupulous but effective lobbyists promoted corporate sponsorship of the EHR data-mining scheme, with a play-or-pay federal penalty for physicians.

Realistically reworking the onerous mandates concerning E-prescribing, EHRs and the new International Classification of Diseases, ICD-10, taking into consideration what actually goes on when trying to care for patients is the only way to move forward with government objectives. Allow doctors to treat patients in accordance with best scientific information instead of spending their time attempting to comply with nonsensical mandates sold by insurance companies and the IT industry to politicians and bureaucrats for a quick fix of a system with complicated problems.

Cathy Poole,

In response to the article “Doc pay reform remains a 'top priority,'" artificial demand is ruling current healthcare economics. We need a system to address artificial demand creation. Programs addressing quality are always appropriate but take too long to implement widely.

In the meantime, we need an immediate and effective reimbursement process that will eliminate up to $100 billion in excess diagnostic services annually without denying any patient-needed services. A reimbursement program to slow cost increases will go a long way toward addressing needed reforms and will have an immediate payback. This is especially needed as Obamacare comes online. We need Wal-Mart-style supply-and-demand economics. Who resides outside the current healthcare box and can save the U.S. healthcare system?

Michael Samms,