Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Today I was on Mark Hansan and Scott Howell’s podcast Prescription for Better Access Podcast on the topic “Biosimilars Role in Improving Patient Access“. The full episode with description is below or you can download the audio-only podcast here. Biosimilars are entering the market at their fastest pace ever. In this episode, we interview a…
In countries that have universal health insurance, but limited patient out-of-pocket costs for public hospital services, non-urgent hospital treatment often has a waiting list in public hospitals. To address this issue, some countries (e.g., UK, Canada) use strategies such as setting maximum wait targets, monitoring provider performance, or adding public funding; other countries (e.g., Australia,…
A paper by Meyer et al. (2020) has a nice summary of potential mechanisms through which the presence of COVID-19 could impact clinical trial results. What should a researcher do when a clinical trial is impacted by COVID-19? Here are some analysis considerations. The full article is interesting throughout.
A great conversation is between two people who think the other is wrong. A bad conversation is between those who think something is wrong with you. Micah Goodman, as written in David Brooks’ book How to Know a Person
More people want to expand ACA vs. repeal it. What is a person’s social cost of being corrected by AI? Guidance on the promise and pitfalls of using AI in healthcare. “….people systematically misremember their past policy preferences regarding how to best fight the Covid-19 pandemic” Consequentialists vs. deontologists: “…which moral principle prevails appears to…
That is according to an article in JAMA based on a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. The report states: More than half (55%) of the rural hospitals in the U.S. do not offer labor and delivery services, and in 10 states, more than two-thirds do not. Over the past decade,…
The Biden Administration promised more access to Medicare data. Then the reverse happened. ProPublica explains: In January, the Biden administration pledged to increase public access to a wide array of Medicare information to improve health care for America’s most sick and vulnerable. Some Medicare plans’ lack of transparency “deprives researchers and doctors of critical data…
One approach CMS has is the Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Access Model. Under the CGT Access Model, CMS (at the federal level) will negotiates outcomes based agreements (OBAs) with manufacturers, which will include pricing terms and outcomes to be evaluated. Then states can elect to participate in the contract terms negotiated by CMS or…
Impact of the Great Recession on health. A loneliness epidemic? Medicaid’s increasing pressure on state budgets. Physician reimbursement to decline 3.4%. Are children spending too much time on enrichment activities?
That is the topic of a U.S. Senate hearing last week. One person testifying was an economist, USC Professor Darius Lakdawalla. While his full testimony is here, his key points of contention are worth reading. These include: The challenge for public policy is to sustain the pace of medical innovation while ensuring that valuable new…