In the evolving healthcare landscape, delivering appropriate care at the right time and location is paramount. However, one important model of care, very often overlooked, is the home care workforce. With the increasing demand for home services, it’s essential to acknowledge the significance of caregivers who provide services in the home. While physicians, nurses, and professional clinicians receive… Read More »
Since its inception, more than 50 years ago, Medicare Advantage (MA) has experienced significant growth, surpassing the number of beneficiaries in traditional Medicare. This situation has sparked a debate regarding the sustainability of MA benchmarks and their impact on the Medicare Trust Fund. There are two schools of thought regarding the purpose of MA. The first suggests… Read More »
Receiving accurate care in the Emergency Department (ED) is essential because diagnostic errors can have life-threatening consequences. Let’s first examine the role of care within the Emergency Room. In emergency medicine, time is of the essence, and the focus is often on ensuring patient safety, providing follow-up care, and ruling out immediate harm. However, miscommunication and unmanaged expectations… Read More »
With enrollment in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program continuing to rise and nearly 50% of all Medicare eligible beneficiaries participating in an MA product, now is the time to evaluate the program’s benefits and possible unintended consequences. Why? A recent study by Landon et al., published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, compared the two programs… Read More »
As we focus on quality, patient satisfaction continues to be a prominent measure of healthcare experience. In fact, higher patient satisfaction scores seem to correlate with desirable health outcomes. However, the issue arises concerning whether the current clinical care standard does in fact, accurately reflect clinical performance, and does it support efforts to improve the patient experience? A… Read More »
We continue to battle the epidemic of obesity and we have tried countless tactics to impact the ever-growing issue. Unfortunately, effective treatment remains elusive, no matter what models we utilize. Whether it is diets, behavioral modification, or even bariatric surgery, we seem to continue to have a minimal impact. The idea of self-activation and engagement continues to be… Read More »
As we continue to focus on the cost of healthcare and delivering value, there has been an ongoing interest in ordering ambulatory testing, especially regarding musculoskeletal complaints. What is driving this cost, is the volume of tests ordered and the unit price of those tests. Undoubtedly, it’s worth spending time discussing the degree of pricing; however, it is… Read More »
The desire to improve diagnostic accuracy, efficiency, and safety is always on the minds of clinicians. Suddenly, artificial intelligence (AI) arrives, and everyone believes we have found nirvana and a solution to all problems. Unfortunately, despite multiple peaks of excitement, AI still has failed to meet our expectations. When we delve into the reasons concerning diagnostic accuracy, it’s… Read More »
In a manner that was not possible during “normal” times, the COVID crisis allowed us to implement much-needed changes and the expansion of virtual care is one of them. In addition to the growth of virtual care, increasing the healthcare workforce during a time of crisis was necessary. In all, 45 states extended licenses to out-of-state practitioners. Currently,… Read More »
Unfortunately, to date, the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve and reduce inequities in access, quality, and appropriateness of high-quality diagnosis and care, has remained more of an aspiration than a reality. There are numerous reasons for this situation; the newness of AI, the low sensitivity and specificity of the algorithms, the lack of health equity data… Read More »