Over at the Disease Management Care Blog, http://diseasemanagementcareblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-tree-of-blogs-avatar-movie.html Jaan Sidorov hosts the most recent edition of Health Wonk Review, a round-up of some of the best healthcare blogs of the past two weeks.  I find that the Review is a good way to find out about excellent blogs that I haven't heard about–while also keeping up with favorites.

Sidorov, who is a primary care general internist and former Medical Director at Geisinger Health Plan., highlights some posts which suggest that physicians are thinking about how to reform their own specialties.

 For example, David Williams of the Health Business Blog summarizes an interesting study that reports on a cancer doctor survey about health care costs. The majority are already including cost of chemotherapy in their clinical decision making and would welcome additional information based on comparative effectiveness research. “As a cancer patient,” he asks, “which would you rather have: a coverage or treatment decision based on a hunch or one based on real science.”

Other bloggers are thinking about how to increase the supply of the physicians that we most need.  On Health Agenda  Chris Langston observes that :  “Most people agree that loan forgiveness for medical students who agree to undergo geriatrics training would be a good thing. care physicians in specialize in reating the elderly.”  Geriatricians,  too,  are under-paid, their knowledge of what older patients need—and don’t need—could contribute to reining in health care spending. (Too often seniors are over-medicated; as we grow older,  often we need lower doses. )   Langston provides a link where you can read about South Carolina’s program, which forgives up to $35,000 in debt for each year of year of geriatrics training if doctors agree to establish a geriatrics practice in the state. Sounds like an idea that more states might want to adopt.

As Congress struggles to save health reform legislation, you are likely to hear more about those Cadillac health plan taxes that the Senate has proposed—and that the House would like to dispose of.  Sidorov reports that  “Joe Paduda at Managed Care Matters understands the ultimate intent of the 'Cadillac' health plan tax: it's supposed to put the brakes on high cost insurance and slow down health care inflation. He  points out  that if this ultimately goes through, the reality will be far different."  Merrill Goozner of Gooznews Review and Henry Stern of the Insure Blog agree.

On Health Care Renewal Roy Poses describes how bloated compensation packages and self dealing are slowly ruining the public's faith in hospitals' ability to do right. Poses is aboslutely right: this must change.

At BNET Ken Terry shines a harsh light on the States, and Sidorov notes, "kicks it up a notch asking a fundamental question: do the individual States really have what it takes when it comes corralling health insurers?"

To read the entire review, and to find the links to these posts, click here http://diseasemanagementcareblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-tree-of-blogs-avatar-movie.html