Obama in JAMA: Reform Has Achieved Two Main Goals, Says Prez

Outgoing President Barack Obama became the first American president to publish an article in a major peer-reviewed medical journal.

And not just any old medical journal, but the Journal of the American Medical Association. In it, he claims that healthcare reform has more or less succeeded in achieving its two main goals: expanding insurance coverage and curbing costs. But other health policy analysts aren’t so sure.

CDC: Demand for Holistic Medicine is Surging—Even Among the Poor

Data from a new Centers for Disease Control report based on interviews with almost 45,000 Americans indicate that public engagement with “complementary” practitioners and natural products is surging—and not just among affluent people.

AMA Proposes Ban on Direct-to-Consumer Drug Ads

Last winter at the American Medical Association’s annual Interim Meeting, the physician’s group agreed to adopt a resolution that surprised healthcare professionals and members of the public alike.

Healthcare’s Balloon-Twisters Blow It on Cost Assessments

Like clowns at children’s birthday parties, there’s a whole cadre of healthcare policy professionals who ply a statistical version of balloon-twisting

They take claims data sets and twist them into forms that purport to be evidence-based pictures of the medical system. By extension, these statistical balloon-twisters are tweaking the lives of actual practitioners and patients because federal healthcare programs and private insurers use these statistical balloon animals to shape and re-shape healthcare payment systems. 

When the balloon doggie pops–and it turns out the statistics are wrong–the tears start to flow.

AG Action Triggers New Wave Of Supplement Scrutiny

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s crusade against herbal products earlier this year has triggered a number of state and federal moves that could significantly change the way dietary supplements are regulated.

Cardio-Chaos: New Statin Guidelines Cause Consternation

For decades, the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and other guardians of conventional wisdom about heart disease have urged physicians to follow rigorous “evidence-based” protocols based on defining treatment targets for LDL cholesterol, and then focusing statin prescriptions to reach these goals.

Escape Fire Highlights Holistic Medicine As Remedy for Nation’s Healthcare Woes

Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare is not the first documentary to bemoan the inadequacies of healthcare here in the US. But it is unique and commendable for the way it looks at potential solutions already known in “real world” practice.

Healthcare Reform “No Birthday” For Holistic Medicine

With the re-election of President Obama, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare, will continue to roll out. In the trenches, holistic practitioners are struggling to understand exactly how the reform plan will affect them. Some are optimistic about greater inclusion of holistic modalities; others see trouble ahead.

Massive Survey Shows Many Clinicians at a Breaking Point

According to a new survey of more than 13,500 US doctors by the Physicians’ Foundation, over 80% feel medicine is in decline, 77% are pessimistic about the future, and over half are planning major changes in their practices. That’s a poor prognosis for the future health of the nation’s healthcare systems.

“A Burning Desire to Fix the System” Catching Up with Matthew Heineman, Director of “Escape Fire”

Filmmakers Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke spent the last 3 years creating “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare,” the most thorough and engaging healthcare documentary yet produced.

Holistic Primary Care caught up with Mr. Heineman, on the eve of Escape Fire’s 12-city theatrical release, and prior to a pecial screening for attendees at HPC’s 2012 Heal Thy Practice conference.