From the Dallas South News Wire (Methodist Health System) The Methodist Health System Joint Academy offers vital help in preparing both mentally and physically for joint replacement surgery while offering some of the latest minimally invasive techniques to restore mobility and quality of life with less pain and faster recovery time. Reports indicate that pre-surgical education directly involving patients and answering their questions helps speed recovery and achieves enhanced outcomes. After scheduling hip or knee replacement surgery with an independently practicing orthopedic surgeon on the Methodist medical staff, joint replacement patients are invited to participate in the free Methodist Joint Academy. In the Academy, patients receive a two-hour course from caring, expert Methodist staff members who give them a preview and overview of what to expect – step-by-step – before, during, and after surgery. Patients are invited to bring along a family member or friend. “This works just like a seminar or workshop that allows our patients to gain a real feeling of comfort up front about the joint replacement process before it happens,” says Jennifer Tullis, orthopedic coordinator at Methodist Dallas Medical Center. “It gives us a chance to prepare our patients in every way possible so they feel at ease ...

DallasSouthBlog.com Live Chat on Healthcare Vote Senate Healthcare Vote

From the Office of the President “Today we passed another critical milestone in the health reform effort with the release of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I was particularly pleased to see that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill will reduce the deficit by $127 billion over the next ten years and as much as $650 billion in the decade following, saving hundreds of billions while extending coverage to 31 million more Americans. From day one, our goal has been to enact legislation that offers stability and security to those who have insurance and affordable coverage to those who don’t, and that lowers costs for families, businesses and governments across the country. Majority Leader Reid, Chairmen Baucus and Dodd, and countless Senators have worked tirelessly to craft legislation that meets those principles. Just yesterday, a bipartisan group of more than 20 leading health economists released a letter urging passage of meaningful reform and praising four key provisions that are in the Senate legislation: a fee on insurance companies offering high-premium plans, the establishment of an independent Medicare commission, reforms to the health care delivery system, and overall deficit neutrality. The economists said that these provisions ‘will reduce long-term ...

My mom forwarded some healthcare commercials that she received in her inbox and I thought a few of them were pretty good.  Wanted to share 3 of them with the fam. How to Tell You need Healthcare Reform Choose the Public Option Spin

Interesting 5 minute video from First Lady Michele Obama.

Melody Barnes, White House Domestic Policy Advisory has a couple of entries worth noting in the Health Insurance Reform Debate. First, a few excerpts from an Op-Ed for AOL Black Voices: As with so many issues, if the state of our health care system is a crisis for America, it's a catastrophe for black America. On average, African Americans spend a higher percentage of their income on health care costs than their white counterparts. Yet despite that spending, we also suffer from higher percentages of chronic diseases such as heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes. That's due, at least in part, to a lack of access to quality affordable care. For too long, Washington has talked about fixing our broken health care system, only to allow the same old partisan politics and special interest lobbying to block change. But this isn't a Democratic issue or a Republican one – it's a moral imperative. That's why President Obama has put forth a health insurance reform plan that borrows good ideas from both sides of the aisle, even from his opponents in both the primary and general elections. This plan does three basic things: *If you have insurance it will provide you more stability and ...

Laboratory Tests Show KFC Grilled Chicken Contains Cancer-Causing Substance; KFC Violating Law by Failing to Warn Consumers WASHINGTON—A national physicians group is suing Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) under California law for failing to warn consumers that the chain’s new grilled chicken product contains a dangerous carcinogen. Independent laboratory tests show that KFC’s grilled chicken contains PhIP, a chemical that can increase a person’s risk of developing cancer even if consumed in small amounts. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 23 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco. “Grilled chicken can increase the risk of cancer, and KFC consumers deserve to know that this supposedly healthy product is actually just as bad for them as high-fat fried chicken,” says Neal D. Barnard, M.D., the president of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). “KFC should post warnings because its aggressively marketed new product harbors a chemical that increases the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other forms of this lethal disease.” A PCRM scientist visited six different KFC stores, obtained two samples from each location, and sent them to an independent testing laboratory. All 12 samples were found to contain PhIP, a chemical classified as a carcinogen by the federal ...

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

I don't often get to listen to Terry Gross' Fresh Air on NPR these days, but fortunately on Monday I had a chance listen to Terry's guest T.R.Reid, author of the book The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Healthcare. Mr. Reid is a journalist who has worked on three continent and has had an up close look at healthcare across the world.  Mr. Reid starts the interview explaining how the term "socialized medicine" was created by a PR firm in the 1940's.  He can a really interesting quote after that. The amazing thing is it's still a powerful argument. I don't know that anybody can define socialize medicine, but nobody seems to like it, except, Terry, when Americans get government-run medicine, they really like it. The VA, the Native American Health Service and Medicare are the three most popular health care systems in America, all run by government. Another great quote from the interview ,  "All over the world, people say that. If you complain about health care, they say 'well, you want to move to America? You think that's better?'" This conversation (as most are with Terry) is fascinating.  Reid easily breaks down the myths associated ...