Medical Data Considerations
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A 5 page paper discussing how, in our electronic age, medical information has been woefully fragmented and ineffective for any application other than historical ones for many health care providers, and in a scenario all too common, it has been far from allowing instantaneous access. An integrated information system can be a boon in improved patient outcomes, and it can be invaluable in situations involving telemedicine or another form of remote health care provision. Despite the advantages possible, such a system still must preserve patients' privacy. The SISTeM© approach can assist in designing and implementing a useable medical data warehouse for enhanced patient care. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
Filename: KS-SISTeM.wps

Medical Ethics and “Do Not Resuscitate” Orders
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This 6 page report discusses the facts surrounding the numerous occasions, when medical therapies at the fine line between life and death are extreme, and the enormous difficulty and responsibility of determining that essential line between living and dying, and the ethical response to “do not resuscitate” orders. Because technology has so significantly improved the human ability to prolong life in the face of severe illness, it has also increased our uncertainty over when such life extension is meaningful. Which then, obviously, brings up the issue of the medical ethics that are part of patient and patient families’ “do not resuscitate” orders. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Filename: BWmedeth.wps

Medical Evolution: From the Biomedical to the Biopsychosocial Approach
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A 6 page contention that medicine has shifted dramatically over the past several decades from a discipline which concentrates solely the science of our anatomy and physiology to a discipline which recognizes not only the hard scientific facts of physiology but also the importance of psychological and sociological factors. Medicine has shifted from the Cartesian way of viewing illness, injury and disease as components of a machine-like body to one which views illness from not only a biological perspective but also a psychosociological perspective. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Filename: PPmedSoc.rtf

Medical Insurance and the Mentally Ill
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A 5 page overview of the problems encountered by the mentally ill in receiving adequate care and insurance coverage for that care. Although medical insurance often allow some degree of payment in policy they are not always cooperative in providing reimbursement for costs incurred and, even more disturbingly, seem to be more interested in reducing costs than in ensuring adequate treatment. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Filename: PPmedIns.rtf

Medical Savings Accounts
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6 pages in length. So what exactly are Medical Savings Accounts? They are personal savings accounts that are required to be combined with high-deductible health insurance. The account holders typically use their MSA funds to pay small and routine health care bills, and then rely on their health insurance to pay for more costly ones. Under the pilot test project passed by Congress, certain individuals or their employers may make annual tax-deductible contributions to an MSA of up to sixty-five percent of the policy's deductible for individual coverage and seventy-five percent of the deductible for family coverage. This paper goes into the history, pros and cons, and status of MSA's. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Filename: JGAmedsv.wps

Medical Sensors
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8 pages in length. Inasmuch as technological diversification within the medical community has allowed humanity to pursue goals and dreams once thought to be an impossibility, there seem to be fewer and fewer limits placed upon what mankind can ultimately accomplish in relation to remote monitoring. The advent of portable and wireless medical sensors has rendered a newfound freedom for those who have heretofore been otherwise shackled by the traditional method of monitoring. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
Filename: TLCMedSn.rtf

Medicare / Medicaid Fraud
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A 10 page paper outlining Medicare and Medicaid fraud and the steps that are being taken to combat it. Bibliography lists twelve sources.
Filename: Medicair.wps

Medicare / Republicans vs. Democrats
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A 5 page paper on the ongoing debate between Republicans and Democrats over Medicare. Several health care plans and initiatives are mentioned. Report is useful mostly as a study in politics-- many of the events discussed are from 1995-96. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Filename: Medicare.wps

Medicare Benefits for Hospice Care -- Developing a Research Study
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This 7 page report discusses developing a research study that addresses the differences between utilization rates of hospice services before and after Congress passed the Medicare Hospice Benefit in 1982 and then the subsequent accreditation of hospice service providers. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: BWhosmed.rtf

Medicare Managed Care: History and Implications
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A 5 page paper discussing the history of Medicare managed care, economic implications and outlook for the future. The paper focuses on the history of the Medicare managed care, which saw its greatest growth throughout the decade of the 1990s. Medicare managed care has as much difficulty as other types of HMOs, however, and many are ceasing operations. This leaves seniors in a pool of uncertainty as increasing numbers of physicians turn away Medicare patients. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: KSmediHist.rtf

Medicare Policy Change Proposal Memorandum
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A 2 page memo to Thomas Scully, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposing a 6 – 9 month moratorium on health care provider reporting compliance. The purpose of this waiver will be to allow providers to design and implement operational changes designed to streamline their communications with CMS while enabling them to adopt the TQM (total quality management) principle of continuous improvement. The ultimate result is intended to be a more effective reporting and accountability system that the private sector – rather than taxpayer dollars – designs for CMS and for all of health care providers associated with Medicare. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: KSmediPolChgMemo.rtf

Medicare PPS And The Balanced Budget Act Of 1997
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This 45 page paper explores the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the prospective payment system instituted, and the effect on Medicare beneficiaries. Specifically, the writer offers a proposal for a study focusing on the increased costs for seniors as a result of the BBA and the PPS. An extensive literature review explains the changes in Medicare benefits as a result of the BBA, including the Medicare+Choice option now given to seniors. The PPS has had a dramatic impact on nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. The caps placed on rehab services and the changes in federal Medicaid benefits have all combined to result in a greater proportion of out-of-pocket expenses for the Medicare beneficiary. Bibliography lists 22 sources.
Filename: PGmedcar.rtf