Public Health & Policy

The hidden $935 billion problem in U.S. health care no one is talking about—and how to solve it

Policy
October 26, 2024

“Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly.”
– Thomas Edison

The escalating challenge of waste in U.S. medicine

The U.S. health care system is struggling with inefficiencies and waste that weaken its effectiveness, thus reducing accessibility and sustainability as a whole. According to a study by JAMA, between $760 and $935 billion is wasted …

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Health care reform requires better access and quality: dialysis as an example

Policy
October 26, 2024

Having spent two years in Oxford as a Marshall Scholar in the mid-1970s, I came back to medical school believing in a national health service—i.e., Medicare for all. But I learned firsthand that a monopoly can provide access without ensuring quality. When quality isn’t the priority, there’s no hope for lowering costs or alleviating suffering.

Medicare is already the single payer for dialysis and has failed patients miserably. As a result, …

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Voting as a physician: How my parents’ story inspired me to advocate

Policy
October 23, 2024

My parents, both physicians, embody the American story. After completing medical school in Iran, they were recruited to the U.S. in 1968 to fill the gap left by doctors sent to Vietnam. Building a life from the ground up, they became pillars of their patients and communities — and our family, too. In 1992, they became citizens, finally gaining the right to vote, and they’ve never missed an election since, …

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How financial incentives transform health care [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 22, 2024
YouTube video

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We sit down with Taylor J. Christensen, an internal medicine physician and health policy researcher, to discuss his health care incentives framework. Taylor explains how restructuring financial incentives can encourage providers and insurers …

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A prescription from the next generation of doctors: Vote early

Policy
October 22, 2024

As future medical professionals, we see the real-life consequences of political decisions in emergency rooms, hospitals, and clinics. Despite a growing recognition that voting is directly linked to better health outcomes, however, health professionals are voting at lower rates than the national average. It’s time that we make a change this election.

We see patients denied essential services due to bureaucratic hurdles, such as insurance coverage gaps for life-saving medications …

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The duty of health system boards to prioritize organizational culture, workforce development, and career pathways

Policy
October 20, 2024

Recently, I interviewed Dr. David Morris, a physician in Ireland and CEO of Verity Barrington, along with Geoffrey Roche, director of workforce development for Siemens Healthineers. Our conversation focused on successes in health care in both Ireland and America, and the lessons we can share to improve the system. A critical part of our discussion revolved around the role of health care boards. Geoffrey posed a pivotal question: “Where are …

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How food marketing to kids is harming their health and what we can do [PODCAST]

Podcast
October 13, 2024
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!

Join Manuel Arango, the director of Health Policy & Advocacy at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. We dive into the pressing issue of food marketing to children, exploring how these strategies …

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We can prevent another Apalachee High School, if we have the courage to act

Policy
October 10, 2024

Hearing about the school shooting last week at Apalachee High School in Georgia, I couldn’t imagine the gut-wrenching pain that the victims and the local community felt as yet another mass shooting tore apart families.

The tragedy reminded me that no one is safe from the horror of gun violence. As a pain physician, I’ll never forget hearing one of my patients say, “If I don’t get the pain fixed, I …

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Why doctors must take charge to save our failing health care system

Physician
October 6, 2024

I recently wrote an article about the problems with our broken health care system, ending with a call for doctors to help develop solutions. In follow-up, here are some possible solutions to consider before the system self-implodes. There is concern that, without any changes, Medicare will run out of funding by 2031. Here are a few things that I think could help.

Address physician burnout

It’s real, and COVID-19 made it …

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A lack of specialized care continues to shortchange Medicaid moms who face the greatest threat from the maternal mental health crisis

Policy
October 2, 2024

In the shadow of America’s maternal health crisis, Medicaid mothers are fighting an uphill battle against systemic neglect. Many of these mothers are facing a cruel reality: the more they need help, the harder it is to get.

It is far from uncommon for new mothers in the United States to find themselves thrust into the throes of postpartum depression after welcoming a new life. Most of them, about three-quarters, …

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Full Medicaid expansion needed to retain Georgia’s physicians

Policy
September 26, 2024

Georgia was ranked 5th worst place to practice in a recent Medscape article (“Best and Worst Places to Practice 2024”), using five criteria: physician compensation, cost of living, malpractice premiums, the health of the state’s residents, and physician burnout levels. As current and future physicians and health advocates, this column will add context by detailing our experiences practicing in Georgia.

The article identified challenges that Georgia physicians encounter. Particularly concerning is …

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Climate change is exacerbating diseases in vulnerable populations in America and abroad

Policy
September 17, 2024

As climate change advances, it has amplified a variety of diseases globally, especially in under-resourced countries and communities. This article summarizes three of these consequential trends. The first is that wildfires and industrial pollution are worsening respiratory diseases. Second, hotter climates are increasing the incidence of infectious diseases such as malaria, and lastly, heat waves are increasing the risk of various diseases, disrupting public services, and causing unprecedented amounts of …

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Why is our health care system going down the drain and no one seems to care?

Policy
September 12, 2024

I want to express my frustration with the state of health care in the United States, particularly in the context of my own experiences within the system. Over the past 12 years, I have submitted articles to KevinMD advocating for quality patient care and fair working conditions for health care professionals. I have urged hospital administrators to reevaluate their operations to improve patient and staff satisfaction and the overall efficiency …

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The hidden estate tax: How the SECURE Act could impact your heirs

Finance
September 10, 2024

When planning for retirement, most of us focus on building a nest egg that will support us in our golden years. We diligently contribute to our 401(k)s, IRAs, and other retirement accounts, hoping to maximize our savings and minimize our tax burden. However, the passage of the SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0 have introduced new rules that could significantly affect how your retirement savings are passed on to your …

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Medicare’s cobra effect: How a well-intentioned policy spiraled into a health care crisis

Policy
September 6, 2024

In the sweltering heat of 19th-century colonial Delhi, legend has it that cobras were taking over the streets. To eliminate the dangerous snakes, British officials offered a bounty for every dead cobra brought to government offices. Soon, locals began breeding and killing cobras for profit. When British officers caught wind of the scheme, they ended the program immediately. In response, the breeders released their now-worthless snakes back into the streets, …

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How Australia’s deadliest creatures and groundbreaking medicine make it unique

Physician
September 2, 2024

Australia is a very beautiful and unique place. I first went to Sydney in 1996 to present some research I had accomplished together with a much more brilliant and capable research physician. I was able to ride the monorail, now gone I’m told, and travel to the Outback, or at least the edge of it. My wife and the two oldest still at home at that time went there a …

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A cardiologist’s urgent call to combat heat-related health risks

Physician
August 9, 2024

As I drive to work and back, my eyes are on the ambient temperature reading in my car—it has been creeping up every day. I routinely listen to NPR, and extreme heat in various parts of the world comes up in daily discussions.

As a heart failure cardiologist in the clinic, I routinely ask my patients about their activity levels. Most of them complain about the heat and how it impacts …

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21st century schizoid health care: the unseen crisis of our system

Physician
July 29, 2024

“21st Century Schizoid Man” is a 1969 antiwar song by the prog rock band King Crimson. It appeared as the lead cut on their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King. “Schizoid Man” is considered an epic, described by Rolling Stone as “a seven-and-a-half-minute statement of purpose: rock power, jazz spontaneity, and classical precision harnessed in the service of a common aim.”

Schizoid personality disorder is much …

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Prescribing data and efficiency: Harnessing technology to alleviate the physician shortage in the U.S.

Policy
July 29, 2024

Amidst the pressing challenges confronting the health care landscape in the United States, the physician shortage stands out as a critical issue demanding innovative solutions. The Association of American Medical College’s latest report projects that the nation’s physician shortage could reach up to 86,000 by 2036. Burnout, which was further exacerbated by the pandemic, a large portion of physicians nearing retirement, limited medical school enrollment, and population growth …

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Revitalizing rural health care with technology and policy

Physician
July 25, 2024

As a physician who grew up in a small town in central Illinois, I’ve witnessed firsthand the decline of rural health care in America. The hospital where I first became interested in medicine is now half its original size, merged with a larger health system, and struggling to stay afloat. This story is all too common across rural America, where health care access is becoming increasingly scarce, and the challenges …

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