Recently, I have been reading publications regarding the “debate” over what type of patients should be seen by which licensed professional. Frequently this discussion revolves around the usage of Nurse Practitioners, or Physician Assistants versus Physicians. Well discussed arguments for both are abundant. Neither side of the conversation, however, truly has anything to do with the license one… Read More »
As we continue to focus on value-based care, where quality and costs are extremely important, there has been an increasing emphasis on practicing evidenced-based medicine. Researchers are now beginning to collect data and evidence not only on clinical matters, but also on issues such as whether patient-centered medical homes truly work or if technology definitely lowers costs. As… Read More »
Health in the United States has become segmented and siloed. Failing to acknowledge the connections between situations that impact us, leads us to miss opportunities to fully explore creating models that improve results. Violence remains a leading cause of healthcare issues, both from a quality of life and cost perspective. While those in healthcare and law enforcement understand… Read More »
There has been continued debate concerning the topic of physician shortages. Just like any discussion, there are numbers to use that support both sides. Pure supply and demand economics does not support the idea of a shortage, and as technology in healthcare matures, this new technology will drive down the supply needs. In a value-based model, innovation will… Read More »
There is a lot of discussion concerning better access for patients such as retail clinics and virtual care. The hypothesis is that having such access will lower the cost of care and improve service at the same time. As these models are very consumer friendly, we are beginning to see the impact of the more consumer driven approach.… Read More »
As we move to delivering value to those we serve, consumerism has taken a front seat concerning how we think about how we deliver care. However, we should be cautious when doing so to avoid creating a situation where we drive up costs. Retail clinics have been touted as a way to decrease unnecessary emergency department visits, as… Read More »
Not all problems are solved with “yes” or “no” In healthcare, as well as in many other situations, we seem to strive for simplifying the problem at hand to a simple yes or no. Though we intuitively know this is not possible, we still respond as if it is doable. We strive to simplify situations and truly want… Read More »
As we shift our thinking to value-based, person-centered care, we must also think about the workforce needed to deliver on our new promises, how to train such individuals, and where this new workforce will come from. Historically, we have trained our healthcare workforce to help with the process of diagnosing and treating without much regard for the human… Read More »
As we shift more to value-based care, we must create models that not only deliver on the value proposition of increased quality and service at a lower cost, but also are models that are sustainable. We need to think about models within a larger health ecosystem. This ecosystem has many components, and collaboration will be needed as there… Read More »
As we focus on improving the health of those we serve, we must remember the interaction between one’s health and one’s work. When we think about work-related events, we tend to think about injuries and taking time off when we are sick. The interactions between the two are much greater. There has always been a focus on employee… Read More »