Comments on: “Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely,” Davis Liu, M.D.

By: Davis Liu, M.D.

Davis Liu, M.D. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:22:45 +0000

There was a time that the care at the VA was second rate. Nevertheless over the past few years the medical care and service provided is as good as and often better than that of private insurance. Read the FORTUNE article – http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/05/15/8376846/index.htm which profiled the dramatic cultural change at the VA.
It is clear that integrated organizations like the VA, where doctors are salaried, work together to the benefit of the patient, and surrounded by information technology provide superior care than those in the community who compete against each other for business and use their own proprietary computer systems or paper charts.
While I understand the clear advantages of an integrated healthcare delivery system like the VA, I am unfortunately very skeptical that the level of reform needed to move to that direction is too difficult even for the best presidential leader.

By: Medical Marketing

Medical Marketing — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:16:24 +0000

As a vet, I receive excellent health care from the VA. I should have opted for this form many years ago but I struggles with my thoughts that government health care was all “bad” and private health care is all “good”. Well, I found out that at least with VA health care there is a very large lot of “good” when it comes to government health care. Perhaps this is only for the vets and because of the culture of the VA – caring for the vets – the high level of care actually blew me away. But, is there a possibility that this culture could be carried over all while assuring health care providers are adequately compensation? I guess we’ll find out under Mr. Obama, won’t we?

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:19:06 +0000

Sometimes doctors tend to ignore your health problems, this happens in poor countries where doctors doesn’t get paid well enough, so relying on your doctor to diagnose your problems is not always a good idea, the best solution would be to combine both doctor’s answers and your own, researched answers to your health problem.

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:53:39 +0000

Sounds like an interesting book with some good points, all of which make me even more convinced that everyone needs to know what their Health Care Options are. A lot of us don’t even get to the stage of working with doctors effectively, we’re still trying to sort out the right kind of health insurance to get. And it’s more important than ever right now, considering the options we might be faced with after election day.

By: Acai Berry Products

Acai Berry Products — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:04:38 +0000

everyone hates going to the doctor. I know I wait until I am in dire pain until I give in and go. I have tried to self diagnose online before and it has helped. Not that it should replace consulting your doctor, but it’s easier to have an idea of what could be wrong and have whatever questions you have prepared before going. this insures that the small amount of time you have with your doctor will be the most productive.

By: John Canter

John Canter — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:01:44 +0000

You are right - a large number of patients don’t get the basic preventive care they deserve often because the doctor doesn’t remind them. There is a trend I am seeing, however, more and more patients are turing online for care or at least to get their general medical questions answered through various online consultation resources. I wonder if this will be a wake up call to doctors who might otherwise loose their patients to those who are more accessible.

By: Davis Liu, M.D.

Davis Liu, M.D. — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:25:18 +0000

Appreciated the thoughtful review. I am quite aware of the potential pitfalls for evidence based medicine that some doctors may be driven to put patients into a category that they don’t fit in. However, I would also note that not having any guidelines or treatment based on theory and not proven (note high-dose chemotherapy followed by bone marrow transplant for late stage breast cancer, all the rage a few years ago, was shown to kill more women than the illness it was supposed to cure) is far worse.
As you recall from the book, a large number of patients don’t get the basic preventive care they deserve often because the doctor doesn’t remind them. Is compensating doctors for practicing evidence based medicine the way to go? Time will tell. Asking doctors to simply do the right thing in the past unfortunately didn’t work.

For your contact with diabetes, what was described was highly unusual. I would however, recommend reading this article as the number one cause of death for diabetes is heart attack / heart disease. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/20/health/20diabetes.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Best wishes for good health,

— Davis Liu, M.D.

By: Errant Thoughts » Blog Archive » Christ! Our Anchor!

Errant Thoughts » Blog Archive » Christ! Our Anchor! — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:13:17 +0000

[...] book reviews since the last time I posted them: Dr. Davis Liu’s Stay Healthy, Live Longer, Spend Wisely, on the US healthcare system and navigating it safely. Nalini Singh’s Hostage to Pleasure, [...]