NASA Should be Just Giddy with Pride Over Recent Successes

With the unmitigated and unprecedented success of the Mars Rover (Spirit and Opportunity) Program, the recent success of the Mars Phoenix probe and its discovery and confirmation of the presence of water on the Red Planet and now the successful completion of the Cassini Primary Mission, NASA should be absolutely giddy with delight over their successes.  My hat is off to you NASA!

Leveling the Playing Field

On June 23, 2008 the New Jersey General Assembly took the first step in restoring some sense and reason to the practice environment for Physical Therapists and healthcare consumers in the State of New Jersey by overwhelmingly passing Assembly Bill 2123 (A-2123).  This landmark piece of legislation seeks to establish standards of coverage and reimbursement that are commensurate with the standards of practice by which Physical Therapists in New Jersey are bound to abide.

A-2123 assures consumers that the coverage that they and their employers pay so handsome a price for will indeed provide services without arbitrary caps on payment for services rendered or visits for medically necessary services.  As we are all painfully aware, third party payment for Physical Therapy services has been in a downward death spiral.  A-2123 establishes a floor of reimbursement based on an already existing PIP fee schedule established by the State of New Jersey below which the insurers' liabilities may not fall.  It also provides for the elimination of capricious and arbitrary visit authorizations less than those proposed by the treating Physical Therapist's Plan of Care should authorization be sought.  This legislation also makes Direct Access an affordable option for consumers by eliminating all referral requirements for third party payment for Physical Therapy.  There are a host of other benefits of this legislation which are covered here.

When all else has failed there are other avenues that are available to combat the deterioration of the practice environment and the legislative arena is the one most apropos when all other avenues have failed to produce satisfactory outcomes. 

The Senate companion bill of A-2123 was introduced last week as well in the form of S-2072.  I for one am looking forward to the passage of this bill as well and the eventual enactment of this legislation by the stroke of the Governor's pen.

Might we see a doctors’ strike?

This article from ZDNet is interestingly insightful in that it recognizes the stress currently afflicting nearly all the various medical professions.  If the current trends continue or even accelerate (which I believe entirely feasible) we will all be in for a rude awakening when there is nobody left to treat us or at the very least participate in our insurance plans.  Unless a reasonable methodology for compensation for medical professionals is developed Universal Health Care will be like throwing a party where nobody shows up.

Excellent Blog Post on DDD and Back Pain

I won't reiterate the excellent post and commentary by Jason Harris, PT on this Blog Evidence Based Rehab.  Read it for yourself Here

Physical Therapists have Bloodshot Eyes Too!

This article could very well have been written about Physical Therapists.  The current practice environment is like a cancer is and could be the demise of all of us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/health/views/17essa.html

Putting Science in Our Lives

Brian Greene, eminent physicist and author of The Elegant Universe has written a wonderful Op-Ed piece in the New York Times titled "Put a Little Science in Your Life."  It goes a  long way to demonstrating the critically important need for improved science education and showing the importance of its standing in our culture.

Science is the method by which rational and reasoned people come to understand the universe in which we exist and our place in it. 

Kudos to Dr. Greene for his elegant and eloquent commentary.