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Health policy and public health

4,357 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 110

Health policy

Why do some health systems fail? There are 2 reasons why.

2

Around the country, for every health system that is successfully navigating the early years of value-based health care, there are several others that are failing -- even though many don’t yet realize it. These failing organizationscan’t or won’t restructure themselves…

Around the country, for every health system that is successfully navigating the early years of value-based health care, there are several others that are failing — even though many don’t yet realize it.   These failing organizationscan’t or won’t restructure themselves to deliver effective, efficient and affordable care.

I’ve come to the conclusion, after observing struggling systems, that two basic characteristics are necessary for systems to transform themselves in response to external pressures: execution and motivation. Successful systems have …

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Why do some health systems fail? There are 2 reasons why.

Physician voices

Why health reform will destroy the e-patient movement

38

The e-patient movement represents everything that is positive in medicine today. This grass roots force has introduced shared decision making and empowered both physician and patient. The quality of health care dialogue has risen meteorically both in the exam room…

The e-patient movement represents everything that is positive in medicine today.  This grass roots force has introduced shared decision making and empowered both physician and patient.  The quality of health care dialogue has risen meteorically both in the exam room and out.  Today’s health care “consumer” is more engaged, more intelligent, and more agile at wending their way through the confusing maze of sickness and health.

It’s awfully sad that it …

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Why health reform will destroy the e-patient movement

Physician voices

Reading about health care online: Is it really that bad?

6

It’s funny to think that the internet and the online world, so entrenched in our modern day lives, is still a relatively new phenomenon. When I first started medical school (not really that long ago) we hardly used the internet…

It’s funny to think that the internet and the online world, so entrenched in our modern day lives, is still a relatively new phenomenon. When I first started medical school (not really that long ago) we hardly used the internet and the concept of a web search barely existed. It only became widely available on home computers shortly after that.

The invention of social media is newer still. If any of …

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Reading about health care online: Is it really that bad?

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Health policy

Why health insurance is the best business to be in

9

Insurance is without a doubt the best business on earth. Every month, insurance companies from many industries collect premiums from thousands of clients, relying on the statistical likelihood the companies themselves will collect more than they pay out. If the…

Insurance is without a doubt the best business on earth. Every month, insurance companies from many industries collect premiums from thousands of clients, relying on the statistical likelihood the companies themselves will collect more than they pay out. If the company has a poor year, they raise the premiums for the next year. It is a beautiful business model and a way to guarantee consistent profits year after year. Even …

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Why health insurance is the best business to be in

Health policy

What good is Medicaid if no doctor exists to provide it?

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What happens when the federal government and the states have split responsibilities for caring for Medicaid beneficiaries? Not much, other than casting blame on one another or on doctors for not providing the care. Buried on page 26 of the…

What happens when the federal government and the states have split responsibilities for caring for Medicaid beneficiaries?

Not much, other than casting blame on one another or on doctors for not providing the care.

Buried on page 26 of the front section of a recent New York Times is a story about Medicaid patients not finding doctors or having to traveling long distances to find one. It says a federal inquiry finds …

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What good is Medicaid if no doctor exists to provide it?

Health policy

It’s time to talk trade-offs in health care

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An advantage of being a foreigner, or a recent immigrant to be precise, is that it allows one to view events with a certain detachment. To analyze without the burden of love, hate or indifference for the Kennedys, the Clintons…

An advantage of being a foreigner, or a recent immigrant to be precise, is that it allows one to view events with a certain detachment. To analyze without the burden of love, hate or indifference for the Kennedys, the Clintons or the Bushes. To observe with both eyes open, rather than one eye looking at the events and the other looking …

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It’s time to talk trade-offs in health care

Health policy

A national referendum on single-payer: What if it happened?

5

The recent independence referendum in Scotland got me thinking. I must admit I was glued to the news over the last few days of campaigning. For those of you not following closely, it seemed as if the "no" camp had…

The recent independence referendum in Scotland got me thinking. I must admit I was glued to the news over the last few days of campaigning. For those of you not following closely, it seemed as if the “no” camp had a comfortable lead right up until the last week when the opinion polls suddenly showed the “yes” camp pulling ahead. This rattled the establishment. The prospect of my country of …

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A national referendum on single-payer: What if it happened?

Health policy

Narrow networks on the health care exchanges: Can they survive?

5

Baseball fans like me take great joy in studying the way general managers assemble their rosters. The variations are fascinating. Some teams focus on pitching strength. Others go for speed or power-hitting. Each approach carries distinct advantages and disadvantages on…

Baseball fans like me take great joy in studying the way general managers assemble their rosters.

The variations are fascinating. Some teams focus on pitching strength. Others go for speed or power-hitting. Each approach carries distinct advantages and disadvantages on the field.

That same level of variation and strategic decision-making applies to health plans, as well.

With the health care marketplaces reopening for enrollment on Nov. 15, anyone evaluating their coverage options should take …

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Narrow networks on the health care exchanges: Can they survive?

Health policy

Karl Marx foreshadowed the plight of today’s physicians

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On September 28, 1864, the first meeting of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) was convened at St. Martin’s Hall, London. Among the attendees was a relatively obscure German journalist by the name of Karl Marx. Though Marx did not speak…

On September 28, 1864, the first meeting of the International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) was convened at St. Martin’s Hall, London.  Among the attendees was a relatively obscure German journalist by the name of Karl Marx.  Though Marx did not speak during the meeting, he soon began playing a crucial role in the life of the organization, in part because he was assigned the task of drafting its founding documents.

The work …

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Karl Marx foreshadowed the plight of today’s physicians

Health policy

5 ways to break into the business of health care

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Every year, ambitious students from around the world flock to America’s leading business schools, hoping to learn how to create new ventures that can change the world. On the West Coast, situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford University’s…

Every year, ambitious students from around the world flock to America’s leading business schools, hoping to learn how to create new ventures that can change the world.

On the West Coast, situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business attracts budding entrepreneurs with challenging and practical programs. Courses like “Entrepreneurship: Formation of New Ventures” and “Managing Growing Enterprises” encourage students to develop innovative business models that solve real …

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5 ways to break into the business of health care

Physician voices

How hospitals discourage doctors: A step by step guide

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Not accustomed to visiting hospital executive suites, I took my seat in the waiting room somewhat warily. Seated across from me was a handsome man in a well-tailored three-piece suit, whose thoroughly professional appearance made me -- in my rumpled…

Not accustomed to visiting hospital executive suites, I took my seat in the waiting room somewhat warily.

Seated across from me was a handsome man in a well-tailored three-piece suit, whose thoroughly professional appearance made me — in my rumpled white coat, sheaves of dog-eared paper bulging from both pockets — feel out of place.

Within a minute, an administrative secretary came out and …

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How hospitals discourage doctors: A step by step guide

Health policy

The uninsured rate has fallen, but it may soon rise

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While there are plenty of valid reasons to be skeptical about the Affordable Care Act, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it’s hard to argue that imposing an individual mandate to purchase insurance won’t result in more…

While there are plenty of valid reasons to be skeptical about the Affordable Care Act, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it’s hard to argue that imposing an individual mandate to purchase insurance won’t result in more people obtaining coverage. According to the results of a recent survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that’s precisely what’s happened.

Based on results of the National …

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The uninsured rate has fallen, but it may soon rise

Health policy

Our value judgments are often psychologically frail

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In health policy circles (yes, those exist!), experts often refer to three aims for a modern health care system: to offer 1) universal access to 2) high quality medical care at 3) an affordable cost. Access, quality, and cost: a…

In health policy circles (yes, those exist!), experts often refer to three aims for a modern health care system: to offer 1) universal access to 2) high quality medical care at 3) an affordable cost. Access, quality, and cost: a possibly unachievable set of goals, certainly in the U.S., where the quality of our care is decent (but uneven), while access to care and the high cost of our care compare dismally to …

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Our value judgments are often psychologically frail

Health policy

5 health care megatrends to watch for

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Recently, Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers told me that U.S. health care is at a tipping point. A positive one, he hopes, but the truth is no one knows for sure which direction the system will tip. At the…

Recently, Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers told me that U.S. health care is at a tipping point. A positive one, he hopes, but the truth is no one knows for sure which direction the system will tip.

At the close of our interview, I asked Chambers what health care topic he’d like me to cover in the future. He asked me to …

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5 health care megatrends to watch for

Health policy

5 things people get wrong about Canada’s health system

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The Canadian health care system is often held up as an example to model or to avoid at all costs in the debates on health care in America, and elsewhere. Yet there are a startling number of misconceptions -- on…

The Canadian health care system is often held up as an example to model or to avoid at all costs in the debates on health care in America, and elsewhere.  Yet there are a startling number of misconceptions — on both sides of the partisan divide — about how the Canadian health system actually works, often from experts who should know better.  Here are the facts.

1. Doctors are self-employed, not …

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5 things people get wrong about Canada’s health system

Health policy

All is quiet on the Obamacare front. That’s about to end.

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It's been pretty quiet lately on the Obamcare front. So quiet, that there has been a flurry of articles recently over how Obamacare has dropped to a second or even third tier issue and will hardly matter come election-time. Wishful…

It’s been pretty quiet lately on the Obamcare front.

So quiet, that there has been a flurry of articles recently over how Obamacare has dropped to a second or even third tier issue and will hardly matter come election-time.

Wishful thinking.

Obamacare has largely been out of the news cycle for a couple of months but that is about to change.

A few thoughts.

The 2015 rate increases have been largely modest. Does that prove Obamacare …

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All is quiet on the Obamacare front. That’s about to end.

Health policy

High health care costs lead to unhappy workers

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A recent report from Rutgers University entitled "Unhappy, Worried, and Pessimistic: Americans in the aftermath of the Great Recession" found that 70% of respondents described the typical American worker as not secure in their jobs and 68% of workers are…

A recent report from Rutgers University entitled “Unhappy, Worried, and Pessimistic: Americans in the aftermath of the Great Recession” found that 70% of respondents described the typical American worker as not secure in their jobs and 68% of workers are highly stressed. A quote from the study is, “The typical American worker lives in a precarious and doleful existence — unhappy, poorly paid and fearful of losing his or her …

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High health care costs lead to unhappy workers

Health policy

Hard truths: Dispelling 10 health care myths

152

1. Most physicians are intellectually gifted and therefore rarely make mistakes. Perhaps Hollywood is to blame for this misconception, or maybe we simply find comfort in believing that exceptionally brilliant diagnosticians abound. Either way, I wish it weren’t a myth.…

1. Most physicians are intellectually gifted and therefore rarely make mistakes. Perhaps Hollywood is to blame for this misconception, or maybe we simply find comfort in believing that exceptionally brilliant diagnosticians abound. Either way, I wish it weren’t a myth. But the truth is that the vast majority of physicians are average in virtually every way. Despite all claims to the contrary, …

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Hard truths: Dispelling 10 health care myths

Health policy

Bottom up: How grassroots input shapes ACP policies

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A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. This month, the American College of Physicians’ Board of Governors (BOG) will meet in Chicago. One of the items on the agenda is the discussion of resolutions that…

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.

This month, the American College of Physicians’ Board of Governors (BOG) will meet in Chicago. One of the items on the agenda is the discussion of resolutions that will help to shape ACP policy. The resolutions process, which looks at proposed policy changes and directives to the Board of Regents (BOR) submitted by ACP Chapters and Councils, is …

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Bottom up: How grassroots input shapes ACP policies

Physician voices

So doctors are sick of medicine: What can we do to fix that?

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Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist, believes with good reason that many physicians have become “like everybody else: insecure, discontented and anxious about the future.” In a recent, widely-circulated column in the Wall Street Journal, “Why Doctors Are Sick of Their…

Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist, believes with good reason that many physicians have become “like everybody else:  insecure, discontented and anxious about the future.”  In a recent, widely-circulated column in the Wall Street Journal, “Why Doctors Are Sick of Their Profession,” he explains how medicine has become simply a job, not a calling, for many physicians; how their pay …

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So doctors are sick of medicine: What can we do to fix that?

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