Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Are quality based incentive programs the solution for improving physician quality without increasing cost? While I believe that measuring quality is an important avenue by which quality can be improved, it is not a magic bullet. A study by Gilmore, et al. (HSR 2007) looks at a pay-for-performance scheme developed in Hawaii. The authors look…
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a “not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.” One of their major initiatives is the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) which aims to evaluate the quality of care offered by various health plans. In a 2001 NBER working paper (“Learning…“), researchers Michael Chernew,…
Last month’s Wall Street Journal (“Faltering Family MDs get Technology Lifeline“) has an interesting article about how small-practice physicians are using technology as a weapon against the economies of scale which physicians working for large-scale practices enjoy. The article tells the story of Dr. Gordon Moore. When he worked at a large, hospital-owned medical practice,…
Child mortality from unintentional injury or accident has been dropping over the last thirty years. Among children under 5, accident rates resulting in death have fallen from 44 deaths per 100,000 population in 1960 to 18.6 deaths per 100,000 in 1990. For children aged six to twelve years old, the analogous fall is from 19.6…
“Cancer cured with soothing balmy oils.” Appeal to Reason “According to this repeated nationwide survey, more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.” – TV ad Regarding patent medicine sold at the end of the nineteenth century: “…the medicines were ineffectual. Some of the syrups contained as much as 80 per cent alcohol; many of…
A push towards more accurate evaluation of health care quality has become a major public policy goal in recent years. The Department of Health and Human Services now has a website ranking hospital quality and California has a Healthcare Quality Report Card. One problem with simple quality measures such as mortality or morbidity rates are…
Health decision makers often have to decide whether to adopt a new health care intervention (e.g.: pharmaceuticals, new procedures, etc.) or keep the existing practice. If one assumes that the new intervention has positive but uncertain net benefits over the existing procedure, should the new technology be adopted? A paper by Eckermann and Willan (2007)…
According to the Economist magazine (“Bit by bit“), firms such as Wal-Mart, Pitney Bowes, and Intel are announcing plans to launch an online patient-information service next year with the non-profit firm Omnimedix Institute. The consortium aims to develop Dossia, which—according to the institute—is “a secure, private, independent network for capturing medical information and delivering it…
The Health Care Blog has a very interesting post (“Healthcare and the Long Tail“) by Jim Walker. Mr. Walker is a lifelong Philadelphia resident who is the Director of Business Development for the social networking site called MyMedwork. He uses concepts developed in Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail and applies them to the healthcare field. …
You may be used to calling your doctor and being told by the staff that you must wait weeks to see your family practice physician. Now imagine calling your doctor and hearing, “I can see you this afternoon…or tomorrow if you like…which one is best for you Mr. Shafrin?” How can a practice be able to do…