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Paperwork Strangling Health-Care System

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 13, 2009

Paperwork Strangling Health-Care System

I have been a registered nurse for 15 years and I can safely say the No. 1 complaint of every health care provider is the mounting volume of paperwork that robs patients of quality time and attention they deserve from caregivers.

Due to the litigious culture of our society, the war on poor health and diseases has become more defensive than proactive, hence the term "defensive medicine" was coined. Institutions have been constantly increasing paperwork to avoid litigation and to satisfy the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. We simple cannot continue this pattern without looking for new ways to reduce paperwork and take back the time for actual problem solving between patient and caregiver.

President Barack Obama's plan to invest in new technology and updating existing health IT is what America has been waiting for. Due to increased anxiety with every visit, patients often forget to include vital data from their health histories. This affects the healthcare outcome and consumes time, especially when each member of an interdisciplinary team attempts to collect their own data.

The list of good reasons for including this proposal in the Economic Recovery Act is endless, not to mention how many jobs it will create.

Help save America.

Mark Wyatt

Wesley Chapel

Better Stimulus Idea

A better idea for the stimulus plan for Hernando County would be to waive the real estate taxes for two years on the purchase of foreclosed homes and first-time buyers rather than giving them cash.

We all remember what happened with Katrina when cash was given in the form of gift cards. Also, with the purchase of a home comes other needs such as furniture, window treatments, landscaping, etc., which should generate purchases from Hernando County businesses.

Betty Dobson

Brooksville

'What Do I Do?'

I have a story for you that I call, "What do I do?" It is about me and problems I have that I can't solve - and so, what do I do?

I was at my dentist last week and was told I will soon lose three of my teeth if I don't give them each a root canal, which may save them. I have many missing teeth now and can't afford to lose anymore.

The government, which won't fill cavities, will pull your teeth for free under Medicaid but then won't provide false teeth. If you can't chew your food, you have digestive problems, etc., which sends you to the medical clinic, which costs the government money they could have saved by filling your cavities.

Because of my disability I can't work. I have other life expenses I can't pay and the government won't pay either even though it has caused some of them.

If our bought-and-paid-for government, owned by special interests, didn't mix religion and politics with an unrealistic attempt at fairness, I could solve nearly all my problems myself.

How? By doing something I think I have a right to do, but the government says I don't.

By trading up to half of my healthy liver to a wealthy person, solving his medical problem, and receiving in return enough money to solve all my problems.

If our special interest government won't solve my Medicaid dental and other problems, I have a right to solve those problems myself using what means I have access to. And since any problem, like my teeth needing a root canal, is not solved at its soonest and gets worse, I need to get started solving mine very soon.

And so my question: If the government won't save my teeth and pay my expenses, and then won't let me, how do I save my teeth?

What do I do?

Loren Crane

Nocatee

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