Does the Usage of Telemedicine Visits Increase Follow-up Visits?

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 »

Does the Usage of Urgent Care Centers Decrease the Total Cost of Care?

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 »

Does the Employer-Provider Direct Payment Program Lower Episode Costs?

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 »

The Physician’s Role in Addressing Social Determinants of Health

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 »

Healthcare Can Be More Affordable if We Can Limit Waste

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 »

How Do We Handle Physicians Who Threaten Public Health?

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 »

Can Social Media Increase Preventive Health Care?

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 »

Exploring Quality as the Use of Virtual Care Expands

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 »