Uwe E. Reinhardt: U.S. Health Care Prices Are the Elephant in the Room - NYTimes.com

A good overview and reminder of the health care price issues we face in this country.  First there is the problem of transparency, we have no idea what anything costs.  But it goes farther than that, even if we know what something costs, the individual patient/consumer has no bargaining power to impact that price.  Other countries have successful models to deal with these issues, but if I mentioned what they are I'd be called a heathen communist.  (You know, like that communist country Japan...)

Uwe E. Reinhardt: U.S. Health Care Prices Are the Elephant in the Room - NYTimes.com:

Salesmen in the Surgical Suite - NYTimes.com

In most industries an aggressive sales staff is an asset.  In medical care it costs lives.  Yet one more reason why our health care problems will not be fixed by the "free market".

Salesmen in the Surgical Suite - NYTimes.com:

The filtering of medical evidence has clearly failed

A stark reminder that not all evidence-based treatments are truly evidence based.

The filtering of medical evidence has clearly failed:

Patients should decide what the end of life is like, study says - latimes.com

While I think  we should be engaging in these conversations simply because it helps the patient.  The fact that it saves money is an added bonus making it criminal that it's not happening more.


Patients should decide what the end of life is like, study says - latimes.com: "Studies have shown that when a patient’s desires are taken into account, death is less likely to occur in an intensive care unit, physical distress is reduced, and death comes no sooner, they wrote."

**UPDATED** DHS: extra cost to feds of Arkansas "private option" will be little to none | Arkansas Blog

 The Arkansas Department of Human Services released a report - or at least the executive summary of a report - on how the costs for their "private option" Medicaid expansion will not lead to extra costs for the Feds.  Many (including me) remain skeptical.  Nonetheless, it's worth paying attention as other larger states consider jumping on the bandwagon.  Linked below is an excellent analysis of the report and the issue in general (the article includes a link to the actual release).

**UPDATED** DHS: extra cost to feds of Arkansas "private option" will be little to none | Arkansas Blog:

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Hospital Ratings Are In The Eye Of The Beholder - Kaiser Health News

It's hard for patients/consumers to base decisions on metrics when the metrics don't agree.

Hospital Ratings Are In The Eye Of The Beholder - Kaiser Health News: ""We've alternatively been labeled the least safe hospital in Maine and the safest hospital in Maine," said Dr. Douglas Salvador, vice president of quality at Maine Medical Center in Portland."

Healing the Hospital Hierarchy - NYTimes.com

Great column discussing doctor-nurse relationships. This relationship is a crucial part of our health care delivery system that will need to be part of overall reform efforts.  The team approach is often discussed as part of the solution; utilizing appropriate level practitioners to deliver care.  The author provides a stark reminder that this is not an insignificant task - hierarchies built up over 100 years will not be changed with the flick of a pen.

Healing the Hospital Hierarchy - NYTimes.com:

ACP: 5 excuses physicians and patients should question

We all know that ultimately, it's changing the delivery of health care that  is needed to bend the cost curve.  I've written before about the Choosing Wisely campaign, a very important initiative to help patients choose appropriate care/testing.  Unfortunately we know that any attempt to change the status quo is bound to be met with resistance.

This excellent column addresses some of that resistance.  Yul Ejnes the the Immediate Past Chair, Board of Regents, American College of Physicians discusses five excuses not to follow the Choosing Wisely guidelines.

ACP: 5 excuses physicians and patients should question:

Note that with this post I'm returning to my health care blog.  For the past several years I've been posting on Facebook instead.  Given my imperfect nature I was finding sometimes I'd also share on LinkedIn and/or Twitter and sometimes not.  I'm now using twitterfeed.com to automatically share across platforms.  We'll see how this works...