December 2015 - The Health Care Blog

Thirty Events That (Really) Did Very Little to Change Health Care’s World

By PAUL LEVY It was with some dismay that I read Modern Healthcare’s article called, “The 30 events that rocked healthcare’s world in 2015.” I jumped into the piece, confident that I would, indeed, find some developments that have...

Published Sun, Dec 27 2015 2:15 PM by THCB

Filed under: Uncategorized

The 2016 Regulatory Landscape: A Review For Health Care Watchers

By PAUL KECKLEY The healthcare industry in the U.S. is highly-regulated at the state and federal levels, and the balance between the two depends on what part of the industry you’re in. To illustrate— Health insurers are overseen by state insurance regulators...

Published Wed, Dec 30 2015 9:05 AM by THCB

Filed under: Uncategorized, Regulation, State, Federal

Rethinking about Diagnostic tests: There is nothing Positive or Negative about a Test result

By ROBERT McNUTT, MD Making a diagnosis is easy if the test we use to make the diagnosis defines the disease. These sorts of tests, called “reference-standard” tests, when present at any level of the test’s result, make the diagnosis. A spinal...

Published Tue, Dec 01 2015 4:34 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Robert McNutt

On the Preventability of Lethal Errors: A Response to Dr. Koka

By JOHN T JAMES, MD In my opinion, the title of Dr. Koka’s post (“Very Bad Numbers“) is far too inflammatory for a subject that needs to be taken seriously. Dr. Koka’s summary of the approach I took in my JPS study is a reasonable summary...

Published Thu, Dec 03 2015 10:25 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, John T James

Reduction in Hospital Errors—Progress, But Still Not Enough

By STEVE FINDLAY Fifteen years after the landmark IOM report To Err is Human, we still haven’t figured out how to count medical errors and iatrogenic harm—let alone sharply reduce them. The debate surrounding this persists, as it must. For example, see...

Published Sat, Dec 05 2015 12:34 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Steve Findlay

This Is Not A Disruptive Blog Post

By MICHEL ACCAD, MD Frank Knight, risk and uncertainty In this article, I wish to introduce the reader to the theory of entrepreneurship advanced by Frank Knight (1885-1972), and show that the common, everyday work of the physician could be considered...

Published Tue, Dec 08 2015 10:02 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, MICHEL ACCAD

Tackling Rising Pharmaceutical Prices: 50 Shades of Gray

By SUSAN DENTZER Global New Active Substances (NAS) Available Since 1996 Here’s the problem with high and rising pharmaceutical prices: It’s not just one problem, but many. Addressing them will require a range of solutions – many of them difficult...

Published Wed, Dec 09 2015 1:00 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Susan Dentzer

This Is America: You Don’t Have to Do Anything

By HANS DUVEFELT, MD “I just want you to know, I won’t have a colonoscopy”, my new patient said with some amount of fervor in his voice. “And I don’t want to take a lot of medications.” I looked him straight in the eyes and said “This is America, you...

Published Sun, Dec 13 2015 10:34 AM by THCB

Filed under: NEJM, Uncategorized, Patient-centered care, MD, Amy Compton-Phillips, Hans Duvefelt

Physician Burnout Rates Top 50% in latest Mayo Study

By DIKE DRUMMOND, MD Over 50% of US Physicians now suffering at least one symptom of burnout. Depression and suicidal ideation rates even more concerning. For a while now I have been suspicious that physician burnout rates are increasing here in the USA...

Published Tue, Dec 15 2015 10:14 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Dike Drummond

An Open Letter From the Massachusetts Medical Society on Meaningful Use

By MASS MED SOCIETY On behalf of the 25,000 physician, resident and medical student members of the Massachusetts Medical Society I am writing to provide our comments on Stage III Meaningful Use as it relates to the Medicare Access and Child Health Reauthorization...

Published Thu, Dec 17 2015 12:33 PM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Physicians, Meaningful Use, Hayward Zwerling, Attestation, Massachusetts Medical Society

Why Doctors should Recommend Quantified Self Technologies for Their Patients

By MOLLY MALOOF, MD The United States population suffers from staggering numbers of lifestyle related diseases. We know the situation is not improving. Recent research found that over half of the country has prediabetes or diabetes. The facts don...

Published Wed, Dec 16 2015 11:50 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Small Practice, Molly Maloof

Was Martin Shkreli arrested for hiking drug prices?

By SAURABH JHA, MD I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories. I never believed a second shot was fired. Nor do I believe that Bill Clinton was stalked on the grassy knoll. So I won’t speculate that Martin Shkreli’s arrest for alleged securities fraud that...

Published Tue, Dec 22 2015 11:51 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Saurabh Jha

Give The Gift of the Health Care System

By NATHAN MOORE, MD and ELISABETH ASKIN,MD The United States health care system is a big, expensive mess, and the people working in the system today often don’t even know how to start learning about the system, and it’s problems. My own frustration...

Published Sat, Dec 26 2015 5:25 AM by THCB

Filed under: THCB, Nathan Moore

The Year of the Hacker

By JK Wall 2015 was the year health care got serious about cyber security. Hackers gave the industry no other choice. The year started with a massive data breach at Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc., which the health insurer revealed on Feb. 4. Hackers roamed...

Published Tue, Dec 29 2015 9:24 AM by THCB

Filed under: Uncategorized, Anthem, Hacker, Data Breach, JK Wall, Cybersecurity

21st Century Cures Act: Away From the “Valley of Death”

By STEVEN ZECOLA Most people would agree that the number of cures for debilitating and costly illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and cancer have been too few and far between. To address this issue, the U.S. House of Representatives...

Published Thu, Dec 31 2015 12:44 PM by THCB