During the COVID pandemic, in-person visits were not recommended so telemedicine rapidly evolved into an ideal way of delivering care safely and expanding access while reducing exposure to pathogens to both patients and staff. And tremendous enthusiasm exists for the continuation of such a model. There is no doubt that there is a significant enhancement to access with… Read More »
We continue to evaluate the value of various care sites, and part of this is considering whether or not the Emergency Department (ED) is overutilized for non-emergent services. Since Urgent Care Centers can provide services at a lower price point, the intuitive solution is to shift care to those facilities. Thus, there is a conundrum of whether it… Read More »
Bundled payments for episodes of services such as joint replacements are not a new concept. Throughout the years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have experimented with Bundled Payment Programs with limited success. After factoring in bonus payments to providers, the net savings to Medicare has been minimal, and on the positive side, there is no… Read More »
As a physician, I was taught to diagnose and treat. Sure, I knew your social situation outside of my office played a role in your overall wellbeing, but it really was not in my differential diagnosis. Undeniably, I did what I could to help with those situations, but only within the context of increasing the ability of the… Read More »
There is an ongoing debate surrounding the value of public health in this country. We have seen this play out during the COVID pandemic. During this time, a great deal of focus has concentrated on the science and the speed to which new therapies evolved and the rapid development of a new vaccine, honestly nothing short of miraculous.… Read More »
The cost of healthcare in the United States is exorbitant. There are multitudes of reasons for our elevated unit price. Many believe, waste, makes up a significant part of the problem. And the largest component of wasteful spending is what we identify as administrative costs. These are dollars that are not improving patient care, and yet, they impact… Read More »
Good science requires constant questioning, hypothesis generation, and a scientific approach. And an understanding that clinicians will not always agree with an accepted direction or a given policy. However, our oversight methods have failed despite our practices of monitoring physicians with practices like peer review, using licensing bodies, and ultimately the judicial system. As a result, many circumstances,… Read More »
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, preventive care services can save 100,000 lives a year. Daily, healthcare systems and providers focus on how to deliver primary prevention services best and how to ensure that the coordination of the payment model is providing such care. However, for optimal success to occur, we need to expand our… Read More »
The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the speed at which we have converted to virtual care. Physicians and consumers have substantially increased their use of virtual visits and digital applications. This care includes interactions concerning diagnosis, evaluation, and management of conditions that historically have occurred in person. Because of this, many questions arise concerning the quality and utilization of… Read More »
There are several external rating agencies such as CMS STARS, Healthgrades, Leapfrog, and US News and World Report that inform the public concerning the quality of healthcare facilities and physicians. Unfortunately, many of these rating agencies rarely measure the same metrics, so it can be extremely confusing both for the provider and the consumer to decipher. And being… Read More »