PRESS RELEASES
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Thursday, February 5, 2004
Governor Pawlenty's "Best Practices" Plan Based on Faulty Premise
(St. Paul, Minnesota) - Governor Tim Pawlenty's should reconsider his
plan to 'force health care providers to use best practices,'
according to the Citizens' Council on Health Care (CCHC)
"It's obvious that the Governor's advisors do not understand the
premise of 'best practices,'" said Twila Brase, president of CCHC,
regarding the Governor's State of the State address today.
Yesterday, CCHC distributed to members of the House HHS policy
committee a draft copy of their upcoming report on the dangers of
legislating "best practice" guidelines. The subject of the committee
hearing was the "best practices" initiative in HF1681, introduced by
Rep. Bradley (R-Rochester)
THE PROBLEM
Using references from national and international medical journals,
CCHC pointed out that the "best practices" initiative:
- is based on faulty reasoning.
Researchers and physicians do not agree on what constitutes "best
practice" and have cautioned proscriptive use of best practice
guidelines due to issues of bias, value judgments, economic
decisions, poor research, and profit-motives.
- is considered "cookbook medicine."
Physicians are concerned that 'best practice' guidelines fail to
allow them to respond to the individual needs, differences and
preferences of patients.
- would lead to the centralization and politicization of medicine.
HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufacturers,
insurers, and government would lobby the government agency authorized
to approve "best practices" for inclusion of their health care
philosophies.
- will facilitate health care rationing.
Those authorized to write and approve 'best practice' guidelines will
be empowered to limit access to health care according to their own
biases.
"It is critical that patients and physicians have the freedom to work
together to meet the individual needs of patients. 'Best practices'
sounds good, but the concept is meant to put doctors and patients in
a box and keep them there. Nothing could be worse for patient care."
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CCHC is an independent non-profit free-market health care policy organization located in St. Paul, Minnesota
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