Category: Trends In Health Care - Part 15

More calls for resignations of “insider” from industry-heavy health board

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon A second large consumer group representing 500,000 Coloradans joined the call Tuesday for the resignation of a health industry insider from Colorados new health exchange board. The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative called on Eric Grossman, vice president of strategy and government affairs for TriZetto, a Greenwood Village health IT company, to step down from the nine-member board. Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Grossman to serve as on the board that will design a new online health insurance marketplace for Colorado by Jan. 1, 2014. He was supposed to be one of the non-industry appointees, but consumer groups…

Insurance for sickest patients costs over $12 million in first year

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon A new health insurance program for Coloradans with pre-existing conditions has enrolled just 800 people in its first year, but is costing much more than expected: more than $12 million so far. Under the Affordable Care Act, Colorado is due to receive $90 million for its new high-risk health pool called GettingUSCovered.Actuaries predicted that 4,000 people would participate in the program between July of last year and January 2014, when the Affordable Care Act goes into full effect and insurance companies can no longer turn down people who have suffered previous illnesses. Nationwide, high-risk health pools…

Health care enters digital age … at last

By Myung Oak Kim Most doctors in Colorado and across the United States still use a pen and paper to keep medical records. But those days are numbered. The health care industry is (finally) stepping firmly into the digital age. Spurred by new incentives and regulations from the federal government, thousands of medical providers are making the costly and arduous transition to electronic medical files, digital information sharing and computerized analysis of patient data to improve care and reduce costs. Were finally joining the rest of the world, said Michael Pramenko, president of the Colorado Medical Society, the Dr. Michael…

Opinion: Importance of payment reform cannot be overstated

By Michael Pramenko, M.D. Earlier this year, more than 100 physicians attended the Colorado Medical Society (CMS) Physician Summit on Payment Reform in Denver. Ninety-eight percent of them left the summit wanting to hear more and willing to stay involved with the discussion. The importance of payment reform cannot be overstated. Heres why. For years now, physicians have been talking about how the practice of medicine is changing. Weve been talking about our new realities, including decreasing reimbursement relative to inflation and the difficulty of maintaining a practice. At the same time, a wide range of public and private stakeholders,…

Student-run clinic offers care to kids in need

By Diane Carman Years ago when Teresa Long was a resident at Warren Village, she tentatively signed up for an appointment for well-child care at something called the Healthy Beginnings clinic, just to see what it was like. One of her children had a seizure disorder and all of them needed routine immunizations, treatment for the occasional cold or flu virus, check-ups and care for the bumps and bruises that come with normal childhood. The clinic was held nearly every Wednesday evening at Warren Village. It was free and residents could access it right where they lived. It was fabulous,…

Cancer transitions: From treatment to survival

By Molly Maher Linda Parmiter has just celebrated her 57th birthday. In June 2006 doctors had given her only one year to live after being diagnosed with stage IV melanoma. This is just another day on the calendar to appreciate, she explained, every one being reason to celebrate. Still, this milestone has significance for her. Its important to me because its one step closer to living as long as my mother, the Thornton resident said. Having recently had a tumor-free scan at a follow up, Parmiter has fortunately become one of many cancer survivors today, with national mortality rates of…

Linda Parmiter’s story

By Molly Maher Linda Parmiter imagines different cartoon for each stage of her melanoma treatment. She said she could visualize the drug as a character, battling her cancer. One drug caused her skin to flake, so she imagined it as Pig Pen from Peanuts. Another, very powerful chemotherapy drug started with the letter T, and so she saw a cartoon capital T with muscled arms fighting. Unfortunately, it ended up fighting her healthy side a bit in the meantime. Lastly came the combination treatments that finally shrunk her cancer. That was a Pac Man, munching the tumors away as it…

Maia Rogers’ story

By Molly Maher Every Wednesday, Maia Rogers goes to her regular breakfast spot down the road from her childrens schools. Often she is joined by friends or sometimes by her son home from school with a cold, but on this day she is alone, her first day free of an oxygen tank since a bout with pneumonia. Rogers said this weekly breakfast is one way she has slowed her pace to enjoy life after being diagnosed with cancer. Though she mocks the clich in her feelings, she said cancer has changed her perspective. Youve just had a life-changing illness, she…

Opinion: 30 percent for 30 percent

By C.J. (Dian) M. Corneliussen-James The most devastating and feared breast cancer is metastatic (stage IV) breast cancer. This occurs when breast cancer spreads to distant, non-adjacent parts of the body. It strikes 30 percent of breast cancer patients and is fatal, taking lives on average within two to four years of diagnosis. Clearly, ending death from metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is of critical importance not only to those living with it, but also to anyone who has had, or may at some point develop breast cancer. Unfortunately, research for MBC is vastly underfunded. Indeed, research for all metastasized cancers…

Doctor coaches cadre of immigrant women

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon When a robber pointed a gun at Oumar Ouattara while he was working the graveyard shift at a busy 7-Eleven on Denvers East Colfax Avenue, Ouattara begged the gunman not to shoot and wondered why he had ever left his native Ivory Coast. Like many immigrants, Ouattara had to take any job he could to survive after arriving in Colorado. Unlike some immigrants, Ouattara was highly educated and had left behind a good life in his native Africa. A doctor, he was married and owned a four-bedroom home. On a lark, Ouattara entered the annual U.S….