“Aren’t You Ashamed?”

Across the U.S. Waiting 15, 30 or even 45 minutes for a physician appointment is not uncommon. Let me clarify, waiting 45 minutes for a scheduled appointment is not uncommon.  It doesn’t have to be this way. The PBS  Newshour describes Virginia Mason Medical Center‘s re-design of its medical clinics, in which waiting rooms are…

Reducing Cancer Treatment Costs

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Reducing mortality and morbidity from many types of cancer would be an enormous breakthrough. Although the benefits from high-quality cancer care are clear, cancer care is expensive. GoozNews reports that a UnitedHealthcare official stated that reimbursement for cancer care now accounts for 12…

Timeline: Medicare Payment for Dialysis

Medicare spending for outpatient dialysis and injectable drugs administered during dialysis was about $9.2 billion in 2009 and is a predominant share of revenues for dialysis facilities. According to MedPAC, “Medicare covers two methods of dialysis—hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. In hemodialysis, a patient’s blood is cycled through a dialysis machine, which filters out body waste.…