In the ever-evolving healthcare landscape, value, defined as the relationship between cost and quality, stands at the forefront of discussions. Measuring the cost-effectiveness and the actual value of medical services and treatments has long been a complex endeavor. Enter the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY), a gold standard in assessing the benefits of therapies, which has provided invaluable… Read More »
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 »
As we continue to address health inequities, understanding how algorithms impact races differently is important. One of these inequities revolves around the racial disparities in kidney disease, with Black individuals experiencing a 2-to-4-fold higher incidence of kidney failure than White individuals. Moreover, Black individuals have faced lower referral rates for pre-dialysis transplant evaluation, post-kidney failure transplants, and placement… 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 »
Since the formation of the Medicare Advantage (MA) program, there has been continuous growth in the number of Medicare beneficiaries that have chosen this model of care. The reasons are numerous. For instance, the pace of growth in the number of company offerings and members has picked up over recent years, and the current projection is that MA… Read More »
As we begin to reflect on policy changes and how they impacted people during covid, It’s of utmost importance that we assess what enhanced our wellbeing and what did not. We know that a significant determinant of health, especially in children, is access to healthy food and permanent food security. One of the many policies during Covid was… Read More »
For many of us, certain technologies, including telemedicine, are viewed in a highly positive light as a methodology to increase access in a consumer-centric manner. However, there are concerns that such technology will potentially increase health disparities because of the lack of broadband access, hardware, and functional literacy. As a result of the pandemic, access to office-based visits… Read More »
As we continue to address health inequities, we must also consider underlying structural issues. If I am to deliver care focusing on equity, the basis for my treatment must be grounded in science. However, if my science is flawed due to underlying systemic biases and flaws in study design, we will never progress. Since inequities are pervasive and… 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 »
Unequivocally, on the subject of racism and brutality, silence is a form of consent. Let us not be silent. Let us stand with our communities, and categorically state that brutality of any sort, overt and covert racism, and racial discrimination hurts us as a community and is wrong on every level. From a health equity perspective, we have… Read More »