Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
The N.Y. Times has an interesting article citing a number of reasons why there are no good websites with doctors reviews on the web. There are some ratings websites (HealthGrades, RateMDs, Angie’s List, Yelp), but the listings are often sparse, with few contributors and little of substance.) For one, physicians don’t like them. “Several years ago,…
Color-codes surgery. China’s most important infrastructure project. EMRs increase doc orders for imaging and lab tests. Rich get richer. The future of education. Part 2. The end of Cato?
The latest edition of the Health Wonk Review is up at Tinker Ready.
In the days before health reform’s pasage, many reform proponents argued for the advent of co-operative healthcare systems or “co-ops”. Co-ops, however, have been around for a long time before that. “In the late forties, over a hundred small rural health cooperatives were founded. Nearly all of these were in the Southwest, fifty in Texas…
Medicare payments for End Stage Renal Disease rely on a value-based purchasing (VBP) system known as the Quality Incentive Program (QIP). Today I review proposed changes to the QIP that will effect the payments for dialysis centers in 2013 and 2014. Payment Year 2013 Two measures have been adopted for the payment year (PY) 2013…
Currently, robot-assisted surgery today is dominated by the da Vinci Surgical System. The device is highly regarded, but is heavy (weighs half a ton) and expensive ($1.8m). Plus it uses proprietary software, which means that physicians and engineers not associated with da Vinci cannot alter its operating system. Change is on the horizon, however. “None…
Almost one in five South Africans have HIV. South Africa is the country with the most individuals living with HIV (5.6 million); it also has the most HIV deaths annually (310,000). Despite these grim facts, there is some good news. The Economist reports: “Although the number of South Africans living with the disease continues to…
Is there a health penalty of China’s rapid urbanization? How do physicians determine the length of a visit? Cell phones vs. Health Care. Financial incentives matter. Cal State to offer online courses.
Americans are a litigious culture. The high number of medical malpractice cases causes both political parties to call for reform. The malpractice claims that make it to court, however, are not many as you may think. According to the Wilson Quarterly: A surprising number of cases “simply disappear, as plaintiffs abandon them,” writes Dwight Golann studied…
The latest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk is up. We’re up to version #152.