18 Ideas to Reform Health Care - From Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest has described 18 ideas for reforming health care to make it more affordable. With my rant about Obama claiming a slower rise in health care costs still in my mind, this list intrigued me. I don't agree with every single idea, but there are some noteworthy ones and are definitely worth looking in to. See here for the descriptions and payoffs of each idea.

1. Fight the Big Five - coronary artery disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure, asthma, and depression
2. Reduce medical errors by thinking like an airline.
3. Get it right the first time (with second opinions)
4. Pay employees for healthy habits, including lower premiums.
5. E-Prescribe instead of paper prescriptions.
6. Use retail clinics for routine care.
7. Share information to fight cancer.
8. Measure results and make them public.
9. Stop unnecessary treatments.
10. Reduce infant mortality.
11. Make schools healthier by rewarding healthier eating, rescuing recess, and expanding gym class.
12. Don't hire smokers.
13. Electronic Medical Records
14. Save primary care (we're losing our primary care physicians)
15. Award prizes for affordable drugs.
16. Visit a virtual doctor.
17. Team up in hospitals.
18. Let everyone shop for the best plan.

I can see higher health care premiums for smokers, but not hiring smokers (#12) seems too discriminatory under American law. I'm all for #17 though - team up in hospitals. My recent experiences with hospitals have shown - at least locally - that doctors are not talking to each other about their theories of diagnosis. A patient may see multiple doctors in a single day, and each has the ability to override what the other has ordered. Rather than changing orders, I don't understand why they just can't talk together about the patient.

What are your opinions of these ideas?