January 2019 - The Health Care Blog

Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 64 | J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Today, for the first episode of Health in 2 Point 00 of 2019, Jess and I are reporting from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. In this episode, Jess asks me about the big news from the conference and whether there should be a second event in New York...

Published Sat, Jan 12 2019 12:10 PM by THCB

Filed under: Matthew Holt, Health in 2 Point 00, Jessica DaMassa, Livongo, J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Net Effect of Expanding Medicaid

By SAURABH JHA MD What is the effect of expanding Medicaid on overall healthcare costs and use of the emergency room? This type of question can’t easily be answered by observational studies and requires a randomized controlled trial (RCT). But an...

Published Fri, Jan 11 2019 7:42 AM by THCB

Filed under: Medicaid, Health policy, Medicaid Expansion, Saurabh Jha, Radiology Firing Line Podcasts

Commissioning Healthcare Policy: Hospital Readmission and Its Price Tag

By ANISH KOKA MD The message comes in over the office slack line at 1:05 pm. There are four patients in rooms, one new, 3 patients in the waiting room. Really, not an ideal time to deal with this particular message. “Kathy the home care nurse for Mrs...

Published Thu, Jan 10 2019 6:47 AM by THCB

Filed under: Medicare, Hospitals, Health policy, Anish Koka, HRRP, MedPAC, hospital readmissions

Not Fake News! A Trump Administration Rule Models Government Civility

By MICHAEL L. MILLENSON A Trump administration regulation issued just hours before the partial federal shutdown offers quiet hope for civility in government. What happened, on its face, was simple: an update of the rules governing a particular Medicare...

Published Wed, Jan 09 2019 6:12 AM by THCB

Filed under: Medicare, Michael Millenson, CMS, ACOs, ACA, Health policy, Trump

New Study: Medicare’s Readmission Penalties May Be Killing Patients

By KIP SULLIVAN JD On the morning of December 21, I opened my copy of the New York Times to find an op-ed that said almost exactly what I had said in a two-part article The Health Care Blog posted two weeks earlier. The op-ed criticized the Hospital Readmissions...

Published Tue, Jan 08 2019 7:46 AM by THCB

Filed under: Congress, Medicare, CMS, Politics, value-based care, Kip Sullivan, MedPAC, Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program

Google Is Quietly Infiltrating Medicine — But What Rules Will It Play By?

By MICHAEL L. MILLENSON With nearly 80 percent of internet users searching online for health-related information, it’s no wonder the catchphrase “Dr. Google” has caught on, to the delight of many searchers and the dismay of many real doctors. What’s received...

Published Mon, Jan 07 2019 6:07 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Michael Millenson, Tech, Data, Apple, Health IT, Google, AI, Health Data

Into America: The Odds Against a Foreign Trained Doctor

By SAURABH JHA MD In this episode of Firing Line, Saurabh Jha (aka @RogueRad), has a conversation with Chadi Nabhan, MD MBA FACP, who is a preeminent oncologist, speaker and the Chief Medical Officer of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions. At the great...

Published Thu, Jan 03 2019 7:16 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Oncology, Saurabh Jha, Radiology Firing Line Podcasts, Radiology Firing Line, RogueRad, Cardinal Health, foreign trained doctors

The Root Cause of Physician Burnout: Neither Professionals nor Skilled Workers

BY HANS DUVEFELT MD Too many specific theories about physician burnout can cloud the real issue and allow healthcare leaders to circle around the “elephant in the room”. The cause of physician burnout isn’t just the EMRs, Meaningful Use, CMS regulations...

Published Wed, Jan 02 2019 6:50 AM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Hans Duvefelt, physician burnout

The Death of Cancer: Book Review and Reflections

By CHADI NABHAN MD, MBA, FACP Some books draw you in based on a catchy title, a provocative book jacket, or familiarity with the author. For me, recollections of medical school primers written by the renowned lymphoma pioneer Vincent DeVita Jr. and my...

Published Tue, Jan 01 2019 12:38 PM by THCB

Filed under: Physicians, Oncology, Chemotherapy, Health Care Books, randomized controlled trials, Book Review, The Death of Cancer, Chadi Nabhan, Vincent DeVita