Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
The first Quality of an Historian is to be true & impartial; the next to be interesting. David Hume The same could be said of any researcher or even blogger (at least those bloggers like myself focused on advancing knowledge). I found this quotation in the very interesting book The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith and the Friendship that Shaped Modern Thought. Very interesting.
This week I passed the 100 citation mark on Google Scholar. This means over 100 peer-reviewed articles have cited my own peer-reviewed research. To take a look at my full list of publications, please visit my Google Scholar page.
Not what the Healthcare Economist would do, but entertaining nonetheless… Plus this quotation: “Since learning about confirmation bias, I keep seeing it everywhere!” Hat tip: Better Humans and The Browser
Why are pharmaceuticals so expensive? One reasons is that there is a lot of research that goes into developing a drug. Most of that research results in drugs that don’t work. One example is the search for Alzheimer’s treatment. As Bloomberg reports: Drug companies have long focused on a different protein called amyloid that clumps in…
Many states have certificate of need (CON) laws which restrict providers supply for certain procedures. A paper presented by Vivan Ho at AcademyHealth claimed that there were 37 states with a CON law for at least one procedure. Following up earlier research which found that CON laws decreased quality, Dr. Ho found that dropping CON…
The National National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) recently selected its five finalists for their Annual Health Care Research Award. These studies include the following: Amitabh Chandra, Jonathan Gruber, Robin McKnight. “Patient Cost-Sharing and Hospitalization Offsets in the Elderly.” American Economic Review 100(1): 193-213. Mark Duggan, Fiona Scott Morton. “The Effect of Medicare Part D on Pharmaceutical Prices…
Why research? It is for the intellectual challenge? Is it to make recommendation policymakers? Or is it to make the world a better place? Margarita Alegria believes that health services researchers must change their focus “from a science of recommendation to a science of implementation.” Dr. Alegria’s address can be found in the upcoming HSR. “The…
As an academic researcher, using the web has made my life significantly easier. I can access millions of articles from academic journals in the click of a button. Sites such as JStor and ScienceDirect have hundreds of journals located in the same place for easy use. With so much more information online, I am able…
The Scientific American magazine has an interesting article (“Science 2.0“) about the web, open-access, blogging and research. Should researchers post their results online? Should scientists blog about their methodology? Pros It seems like academic research is the perfect forum for social networking and blogging. The sharing of ideas is a key means towards scientific invention/innovation.…
KBPS reports that Google will begin digitizing tens of thousands of library books at my current school, UC San Diego (UCSD). Why was UCSD chosen? Google states that UCSD has an “exceptional collection of social sciences and east asian books.” Within six months, all UCSD books will be available online.