Health policy and public health

4,357 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 86

Ending DACA is a travesty

February 15, 2018Feb 15, 20189

On September 5th, 2017, the Trump administration denounced the further implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and called for its revocation in 6 months. Opponents quickly voiced their concerns towards the unjust decree. Now, the deadline is near and a heightened urgency to act is imperative. To encourage advocacy and help legislators understand the vitality of DACA-recipients, the following displays the power of the undocumented.

Days after news of …

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Ending DACA is a travesty

Physician voices

Why workplace wellness programs don’t work

Richard Young, MD

February 14, 2018Feb 14, 20188

A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research reports on the results of a large randomized controlled trial of a large employer with over 12,000 employees. Program eligibility and financial incentives were randomized at the individual level. Over 56 percent of eligible treatment group employees participated. The study found that in the first year, the employees who signed up were healthier and had lower medical costs, but, and …

Health policy

Health equity is the missing value in value-based payments

Christopher J. Frank, MD, PhD

February 14, 2018Feb 14, 20185

The way doctors and hospitals are paid is undergoing a quick and quiet revolution in an attempt to control costs and improve health outcomes. Federal payers are driving this change from fee-for-service payments to reimbursements based on quality outcomes and measurements of clinical processes. This focus on clinical outcomes does not account for the deep inequities that drive poor health outcomes in the United States. Without measuring and paying for …

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Health policy

A week in the worst health care system in the world

Matthew Hahn, MD

February 13, 2018Feb 13, 201845

What happens when you place an entire nation’s health care in the hands of an overly-controlling, ineffective government bureaucracy and huge corporations whose mission it is to squeeze as much money from the system, no matter the cost, including people's…

You get my week as a family doctor in the worst health care system in the world.

This week a diabetic patient who …

Drugs and prescribing

How hospitals can impact generic drug companies

Mark Kelley, MD

February 6, 2018Feb 6, 2018

The costs of many generic drugs have skyrocketed. In some cases, the price of a single pill has increased over 500 percent. But help may be on the way. Recently several large and respected non-profit hospital systems indicated that they…

The costs of many generic drugs have skyrocketed. In some cases, the price of a single pill has increased over 500 percent.

But help may be on the way. Recently several large and respected non-profit hospital systems indicated that they will “fire a shot across the bow” of the generic drug business. That would be a game-changer.

Why has the price of generics skyrocketed?

Some large drug companies have purchased …

Physician voices

Immigrant health care workers serve a vital function within the American health care system

Raymond Jean, MD

February 2, 2018Feb 2, 201846

Early this month, it was reported that President Donald Trump, having grown frustrated from discussions regarding a bipartisan deal on immigration, asked why proposals continued to provide special protections for immigrants from the countries of El Salvador and Haiti, and the continent of Africa. He reportedly exclaimed, “Why are we having all these people from sh*thole countries come here?” The statement has been largely denounced both at home and abroad, and …

Health policy

Doctors must take a stand and force the government to cancel MACRA

Matthew Hahn, MD

February 1, 2018Feb 1, 201837

The most profound health care legislation enacted since the Affordable Care Act, The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), is a huge mistake. It adds another vast layer of bureaucracy to a health care system already overburdened by such things, and penalizes physicians who take care of the most complicated patients. The head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who administer the program, admits …

Health policy

Exploring 2 roads to universal health coverage

Cody Mullens

January 30, 2018Jan 30, 201813

"Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." - Martin Luther King, Jr. I am very strongly of the opinion that equal access to quality health care should not be regarded as a…

“Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am very strongly of the opinion that equal access to quality health care should not be regarded as a privilege but rather ought to be viewed as one of the most basic right afforded to all. Much of the industrialized world agrees with this notion based on the infrastructure of health …

Health policy

Health care debates could use a healthy dose of ideal theory

Ishaan Shah

January 30, 2018Jan 30, 2018

In early September, the New York Times Upshot published a bold piece titled “The Best Healthcare System in the World.” The article brought together prominent health economists and physician experts to judge the health systems of the world in a head-to-head tourney to determine which health system deserved the prestigious title. The article, published at a time of intense policy debate concerning the U.S. health care system, …

Physician voices

Insurance companies manipulate the doctor-patient relationship for financial gain

Denise A. Somsak, MD

January 29, 2018Jan 29, 20185

I am pediatrician who has been practicing for almost twenty years. During my career, I have been employed by two different free-standing children's hospitals, a non-profit community-based health center, and now I own my own practice. In every setting, I…

I am pediatrician who has been practicing for almost twenty years. During my career, I have been employed by two different free-standing children’s hospitals, a non-profit community-based health center, and now I own my own practice. In every setting, I have had to generate coding and billing for my work even when my salary was independent of that billing.

There is no other profession that would dutifully learn the “rules” of …

Health policy

Pay for performance: Have we gotten what we’ve paid for?

Joshua Liao, MD

January 27, 2018Jan 27, 20183

In a research article published in Annals of Internal Medicine, investigators studied performance in Medicare’s Value-Based Payment Modifier program (VM) -- a prominent pay-for-performance (P4P) program that adjusts providers’ Part B payment rates on the basis of their performance on…

In a research article published in Annals of Internal Medicine, investigators studied performance in Medicare’s Value-Based Payment Modifier program (VM) — a prominent pay-for-performance (P4P) program that adjusts providers’ Part B payment rates on the basis of their performance on a set of quality and cost measures. The authors were interested in 2 questions: Is engagement in VM associated with changes in provider performance on quality or cost measures? Does …

Health policy

Why hospital mergers are destined to fail

Robert Pearl, MD

January 24, 2018Jan 24, 20182

In the early 1960s, President John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” It was a clarion call, a full-throated warning against national complacency in an era of great prosperity. It was…

It was during this same period that community hospitals stood as the dominant force in American health care. By the mid-20th century, some 6,000 inpatient facilities had spread throughout the country, often serving …

Health policy

Obstruction of medical justice: How health care fails patients with cancer

Miriam A. Knoll, MD

January 22, 2018Jan 22, 20182

Isn’t getting cancer bad enough? That’s the frustrated thought that goes through my mind when I see patients with cancer suffering -- not from their cancer, but from the failure of the health care system. Take Nancy,* a 60-year-old woman…

Isn’t getting cancer bad enough?

That’s the frustrated thought that goes through my mind when I see patients with cancer suffering — not from their cancer, but from the failure of the health care system.

Take Nancy,* a 60-year-old woman with hormone-positive breast cancer. When she came to the emergency room with a fungating breast mass, we knew …

Health policy

If politicians really want to address the problems in health care, this is what they should do

Linda Girgis, MD

January 20, 2018Jan 20, 20184

Americans witnessed the many failed attempts of our elected officials to reform our broken health care system over the past year. Some call for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) while others think it is the cure-all for what ails our system. The simple fact that politicians fail to consider is the fact that having health care coverage does equate to actually receiving health care services.

In fact, the …

Physician voices

How Harvard changed my health care leadership career

Tiffany Love, PhD

January 17, 2018Jan 17, 20184

As a senior health care executive, I plan continuing education carefully each year to ensure I am maintaining competence and pursuing excellence in leadership development. Unsettled by barriers perceived for women in leadership locally and nationally, I did not expect the career development programs offered through my agency would meet my needs. My search led me to the “Career Advancement and Leadership Skills for Women in Healthcare” offered through Harvard …

Health policy

Can the dwindling numbers of primary care physicians explain decreased life expectancy?

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

January 15, 2018Jan 15, 201813

Newborns born in 29 other countries of the world have life expectancies exceeding 80 years; yet, an infant born in the U.S. in 2016 is expected to live only 78.6 years according to recently released statistics. While death rates fell for 7 of the 10 biggest killers, such as cancer and heart disease, they climbed for the under-65 crowd. The irrefutable culprit is the unrelenting opioid epidemic.

Last year, life expectancy …

Physician voices

Are you giving examples the minority can relate to?

Sasha K. Shillcutt, MD

January 15, 2018Jan 15, 20189

Recently I had the privilege of an attending a leadership course at a very prestigious institution. I spent a week immersed in self-evaluation and heard great lectures on team building, leadership strategy, economics, conflict resolution, and communication. I met 60+…

The class was full of physicians, health care executives, …

Health policy

Should medical school encourage political thought?

Faiz Kidwai

January 15, 2018Jan 15, 201812

Many medical schools don’t encourage political thought in their students, far less nurture it. That’s a shame because it squanders an opportunity to equip future thought leaders to deal with serious concerns facing the U.S. population, many of which have…

In “Experiencing Politics,” a memoir about his 12-year stint in the …

Health policy

Why health care replaced physician care

Michael Weiss, MD

January 12, 2018Jan 12, 201815

Ever wonder what health care really means and why it’s even used? When you’re sick, do you need health care or a doctor? Maybe as physicians, we need to ask the same about the words "health care provider." On April…

Ever wonder what health care really means and why it’s even used? When you’re sick, do you need health care or a doctor? Maybe as physicians, we need to ask the same about the words “health care provider.”

On April 11, 1993, The New York Times editor William Safire commented on the attempt at the time to label physicians as providers:

As a physician, I am somewhat distressed

…

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Why health care replaced physician care

Health policy

The CVS-Aetna merger: millions of lives hang in the balance

Niran S. Al-Agba, MD

January 10, 2018Jan 10, 201830

Recently, pharmacy giant CVS agreed to purchase Aetna for an astounding $69 billion dollar sum. The company allegedly plans to reduce health spending by developing an integrated system touted as “a new front door for health care in America.” This merger is actually an acquisition, entailing transfer of ownership. The central aim of an acquisition is to increase market share, expand the scope of services provided, and improve financial …

Health policy and public health

Articles, page 86

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