SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Doctors, nurses and pharmacists who work at the FDA or other federal agencies are prohibited under the Dual Compensation Law from "moonlighting" at other federal healthcare facilities like National Naval Medical Center (DOD), NIH Clinical Center (HHS) or any of the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals. "Moonlighting" is a term used often by physicians and other patient care providers to describe the provision of medical care... more »

I have a way to collect a billion dollars a year from insurance companys. The VA doesn't bill insurance companys on the devices that are used and are losing a billion a year. Pick my idea and

Mr. President I can get this working across the Nation.

Solar Panels on Every Federal Building. This will save lots of money and can make money by sending extra power to power companies and they would have to pay the government. May allow for charging of electric cars at a fee basis. Vote for this idea show that people care about our environment. Thank you!!

This idea of course will not go anywhere, so why even try. But think of how much would be saved over the years if all Senators, Congresspeople and Representatives were on the same healthcare system and retirement system as the rest of us are on.

Certified Nurse Practioners should be reimbursed by the federal government for providing medicaid/medicare services.

With a limited scope of practice, lower cost, far lower instances of mistakes, prevention-based care model, Certified Nurse Practioners (CNPs) should be reimbursed. This would lead to significant savings in an area that will only become more expensive as the population ages.

Certified Nurse Midwives,... more »

The largest healthcare expenditure in the U.S. is bone fractures (not heart disease)! Consider investing in green-friendly cement to fix those fractures (e.g. Jeff Pfieffer of Stanford University is involved in a project). This would significantly lower huge surgery expenses, hospital stays, recovery and rehab costs, etc. that passes along savings to all Americans.

Lower health care benefits costs by shifting focus from treatment alone to include prevention by promoting overall health. I believe this was the motivation for "The President's Challenge" program that encouraged participants to engage in more physical activities. It may not be easy to find the time for this, yet half of a typical worker's waking hours are spent sitting at their cube working in front of the computer.... more »

High Efficiency hand dryers should be required by all federal agencies in order to save significant amounts of money on janitorial services contracts as well as maintain compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. The use of automatic hand dryers can significantly reduce the amount of paper towels used in public restrooms, which can lead to significant reductions in operating cost, waste, and the overall impact... more »

Reduce Congress, SES and GS 13 and above's health insurance plans to the level of the rest of the government employees.

I have worked in the prison system for over 10 years and I have to question why we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars performing elective surgeries on inmates that have lived with their conditions for years. We could eliminate millions of dollars and cut significant government spending by screening inmates on their initial incarceration and documenting their existing medical conditions. Why is the government responsible... more »

The largest Healthcare system already in place and functioning in this country are the Veteran's Affairs Medical Centers. The infrastructure is already in place. Specially trained physician's and staff are attuned to the special medical issues that arise in the military profession. Some of the most State-of-the-Art care practices exist in the VA system. The VA system is not hindered by the drawbacks of the commercial... more »

The problem with our budget is only a symptom of a greater one.

 

I couldn't cut my proposal down to <2000 characters, so I am posting the link.

 

This isn't just about money - it's about our healthcare, our education, our energy and our future.

 

http://solarfuzzy.blogspot.com/2011/07/saving-our-nation.html

Merge Indian health service, Veterans Health Administration, DoD healthcare service, and medicare formularies into ONE super formulary.

 

A more bold idea (less feasible) is to merge all federal healthcare departments into ONE federal health care system (merge Dod health, VAH, and IHS).

There is a new protocol that was passed about 5 yrs.ago to screen every vet at age 65 to make sure there was no AAA(Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm). The provider will see an alert to order the exam at age 65,however,there are many,many duplicate orders for this test being submitted.We need an alert to verify this exam had alreay been completed so as to prevent many duplications,at age 66,67,68,etc.Everytime the vet sees a... more »

Why are pharmacies labeling medications with their own expiration dates for prescription medications rather than using the expiration dates set by the manufacturer? Not standardizing the expiration dates increases the risk of setting expiration dates that are before or after the manufacturers. I have personally seen many instances where pharmacy's expiration dates are six months to a year BEFORE the manufacturer's expiration... more »