All of us in healthcare are striving to improve patient safety; but our current systems for tracking diagnostic errors have focused on individual clinicians’ decisions based on data and system designs and not information from the patient. Relatively few systems capture information from patients with the purpose of aiding in the understanding of such mistakes. A recent study… Read More »
I was recently asked by Gist Healthcare to weigh-in on end-of-life care and how we as a society should approach it and what needs to change. You can read the full interview conducted with Gist Healthcare writer Chas Roades here. But today, I am going to summarize some of my thoughts on why Advance Care Planning needs to… Read More »
Physician burnout is an ongoing discussion in healthcare. Characterized by emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, burnout is a syndrome, accompanied by a feeling of reduced personal accomplishment, loss of work fulfillment, and reduced effectiveness. Since physicians are so integral to the healthcare system, the effects of their fatigue have a global impact often leading to potential losses in productivity,… Read More »
Improving the value of healthcare to those we serve requires us to examine not only the quality delivered but also the associated cost. Since quality and cost are interdependent and occasionally at odds with each other, managing the dynamic between the two is essential. Utilizing and practicing evidence-based medicine delivers proven enhanced quality outcomes. Thus, many experts believe… Read More »
I recently read the works of Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach and best-selling author and the following really impacted my thinking on the behaviors of a leader. I wanted to share. Thank you Marshall! “Behavior flaws are not flaws of skill. Nor are they flaws in intelligence. Nor are they flaws of unchangeable personality.” (Goldsmith, 2007) What we… Read More »
Recently, I read with piqued interest, an article concerning Parsley Health, and its foray into the market, promising a medical model that is much more holistic, with payment accomplished through a monthly subscription. Neither concept is new, but they are a progression from our present healthcare delivery. Often referred to as Functional Medicine it involves incorporating a concept… Read More »
Undoubtedly, interest was piqued by the recent announcement that all medical students at New York University will receive 100% tuition assistance. Although currently, numerous colleges are working to prevent students from acquiring a debt load, that idea, until recently, has yet to come to fruition for medical school. Moreover, there have been conversations concerning the value of the… Read More »
As discussed on The Positive Contrarian before, there is a tremendous focus on innovating our insurance payment models to deliver value, improved quality and service at a lower cost. The success of value-based insurance design (VBID) is dependent on two factors. The first dynamic is the unknown impact of the consumers’ responses to out-of-pocket spending, or “elasticity of… Read More »
One of my favorite images is a picture of three boys standing behind a fence trying to watch a baseball game. One is tall enough to gaze over the fence; the other two are of different heights, and unable to glimpse the action. There are three boxes stacked next to them. The question posed is “How would you… Read More »
“Population Health” has numerous definitions. Most commonly it is “Health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.” The key words are “health” and “group.” At the most expansive level, the wellness of our entire society encompasses this meaning. There in deciding to define the value to include the whole community… Read More »