When I think of the federal government, “efficiency” is rarely the first thing on my mind. But when it comes to controlling healthcare costs, we need to consider the possibility that the federal government is better at this job than anyone else. Consider the fact that the United States dwarfs other countries in healthcare spending,…
Here is a chart from the Washington Post, showing the percent of people lacking health insurance over the last few years. For a long time now, a higher proportion of Democrats have been uninsured than Republicans, with low income and minority communities experiencing a disproportionately high uninsurance rate. But since Obamacare has come into effect,…
Usually it costs money to get an MRI. But sometimes, in order to save money, insurance companies pay patients to seek less expensive medical care providers. Here is an excellent news report on the topic from The News & Observer: North Carolina’s largest health insurer is proposing a solution to control runaway health care costs:…
Ken Mishark is a hospitalist at the Mayo Clinic who formerly served as a physician in the military. Early in his career, he interviewed for a job in the CIA. That experience might explain why he paid attention when the CIA declassified a manual it had developed on how to conduct “enhanced interrogations”. As he…
Lena Wright’s best friend was hunched over like a character from a French novel, with spinal bones so thin they would fracture with a fit of sneezing. Determined to avoid that fate, Wright (a pseudonym) asked her primary care doctor to test her for osteoporosis with a DEXA scan, also known as Dual Energy X-ray…
Here is a very interesting essay in the Arkansas Business Journal, which ties our research on physician patient conversations into a broader message about the importance of good communication in business. Glad to see our work is having an impact. Considering all of the technical advances and new complexities in marketing today (such as social,…