As the August 2nd deadline approaches, many Americans are mad at Congress and/or the President for this game of budget brinksmanship. A few commentators have talked about healthcare costs being an important factor in the debt, but I don’t think they emphasize it enough. Let’s spend a few moments getting our...
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I thought I’d try something different this week. Instead of me just going blah, blah, blah to the cyber world, I thought I’d ask for help compiling a list. It has always annoyed me when well-meaning special interest groups ask family physicians to give away their professional time and expertise. A...
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Many well-meaning patient advocates want patients to become more empowered in their own care, which could take many forms. The technology companies and EMR supporters of course want this to happen electronically. “Smart” cards could contain every detail of a person’s medical history and records. But do patients really want this?...
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I received one of those politely worded letters from a major insurance company recently informing me of how it thought I was doing caring for one of my patients. It includes warm language such as “We value our relationship with you,” though their medical director who signed this letter has never...
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A buzzword circulating in the health policy world is value-based insurance design. This phrase sounds like something the business world might latch on to. It sounds  very businessy–companies in control of maximizing shareholder value. Two studies were published in Health Affairs dealing with aspects of this approach. They studied the effect...
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