With heated debates about reforming health care swirling across the country, professors from the University of Maryland's graduate schools told more than 200 students about how proposed changes might affect their future careers in medicine, dentistry, nursing, law, pharmacy and social work at a panel discussion Thursday night in downtown Baltimore.
All the professors agreed that the U.S. health care system needs to be reformed.
"We do need to control spiraling costs, but we don't want to do that at the cost of stifling innovation," said Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra, professor and head of cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
At the start of the event, U.S. Rep. John P. Sarbanes, a former health care lawyer, thanked students for responding to the call for additional health care workers to meet rising demand. He reminded them that they might be affected by a lack of coverage themselves, as many young people must wait before they become eligible for insurance through their employers.
He answered selected questions submitted ahead of time, such as why the proposed bills do not include tort reform. "The research is not bearing out that it provides the cost savings that advocates would suggest," Sarbanes said. He said in states where tort reform has been instituted, malpractice insurance costs have not decreased drastically.
The Democratic congressman also talked about incentives, such as loan forgiveness, to reduce education costs that lead physicians to specialize.
Preserving and augmenting primary care is an important goal but must be accomplished without jeopardizing the innovative specialty care in the United States, said Mehra, of the medical school.
Doctors also don't want to be forced into what he called "defensive medicine" - ordering tests and procedures to avoid the small chance of missing something, he said. "Some days, I'm afraid of practicing evidence-based medical care," he said.
They also want more and better preventive care, "but don't want to be pushed into unproven therapy." In addition, they need to cut down on waste, abuse and fraud, he said.
Other academics on the panel agreed that eliminating avoidable costs would save millions. "The most expensive medicine is the one that doesn't work," said Cynthia J. Boyle, professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.
Mehra called for development of a center for comparative research, not just on drugs and devices but also for procedures.
Other health professionals such as nurse practitioners must play a part in expanding the reach of medical care. "You can't think of primary care as primary-care physician," he said.
"Health care should be an affordable, sustainable and equitable system that does not stifle innovation and research," Mehra said.
Health care reform would prompt legal battles over whether the federal government can regulate insurance, something states do now, said Jack Schwartz, professor at the School of Law. And some have questioned whether Congress has the authority to require people to carry insurance.
