Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
A number of studies have suggested that we are spending too much on end of life care. Consider this Kwok et al. (2011) study published in Lancet. Many elderly people in the USA undergo surgery in the year before their death. The rate at which they undergo surgery varies substantially with age and region and…
Although this Saturday Evening Post article comparing how physicians and patients prefer end of life treatment is from 2013, it is interesting throughout. Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. He had a surgeon explore the area, and the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer. This…
Netflix has a very interesting documentary on end of life decisions. Do you put your loved one on a ventilator, extend their life, but perhaps increase their suffering? Or do you let nature take its course, but potentially lose time you could have with your loved one. These are not easy decisions and one that the documentary…
Charles Ornstein is a well-regarded health journalist who has written extensively about end-of-life care. Then his mother became sick. How did his preconceptions about end-of-life care change (if at all) as a result of his experience. An excerpt from the full article is below. I’ve always thought that the high cost of end-of-life care is…
Hospitals in Sacramento were concerned about the large number of nusring home transfers to its facility. Were many of these tranfers unnecessary? Did patients with little chance of recovery benefit from these hospital stays? To reduce end-of-life tranfers to hospitals from nursing homes, 3 Sacramento-area hospital systems and 18 nursing homes instuted the Preparing Residents…
Atul Gawande has written yet another excellent article in the New Yorker. This one about end of life care. In the debate surrounding health reform, many politicians hijacked the serious discussion of end-of-life decisions and decisions to use non-invasive medical treatment were termed death panels. But end-of-life decisions merit further investigation. Not only can giving…
The New York Times Magazine discusses two pressing issues: 1) what type of treatment to the elderly really wish to receive at the end of their life and 2) how does economic incentives affect how physicians advise these patients. Much of my own research has dealt with (2) [see here]. The following two excerpts are…