I was catching up on some reading this morning, and reviewed a January editorial from the NY Times about the increasing role of the feds in supporting Medicaid to meet expanding demands.
It seems that a decade of tipping the income scales has left a bundle of families of four bringing in less than $30,000 a year, which expands the Medicaid culture (a social issue I love to talk about, but won’t today). The political argument is whether the feds or the states pay for the increased Medicaid usage. There are disparities among states in how they pay their share, which leaves shortfalls of billions and billions of dollars. In the face of this problem and increased demand (those families I just mentioned), the dam will burst on capitol hill, something will happen, even if it’s wrong, to increase federal participation in Medicaid funding.
C-level executives of provider organizations that I know are faced with increasing workloads and per-service recompense dwindling at the state level. The states have to adjust their budgets and have passed the problem on to my friends. A number are worried that their agencies won’t be around to offer mental health and social services to this increasing population that needs the help. Think about the resulting world a minute. Overworked surviving agencies serve a smaller percent of the population, poorly, and America has a lot of sick people on the streets. Homelessness increases, crime increases, hospital emergency rooms go nuts and jail population explodes. America the beautiful.
Think it’s not that bad? OK. Perhaps I’m reactive, perhaps not.
I only know only a little: I can help in a small way. I help agencies serve more people and increase their quality of care. More people can be served in an agency that demands its practitioners to use concurrent documentation and other efficiency directed aspects of the Electronic Medical Record. Quality of treatment increases when all practitioners and agencies have instant access to electronic records and the right-hand provider knows with professional certainty what the left-hand provider’s doing with the patient.
You can contact me now at info@ehrsio.com
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