Similar Posts
Costs, Schmosts!
ByadminTalk to your doctor about your out-of-pocket expenses. Ask about the cost of your meds. And await for the sound of silence! Sadly, that is too often what happens in medical clinics today. Here is a nice essay, exploring the topic, from a healthcare reporter. With access to information about the costs of care, patients…
Doctors with Strong Financial Ties to Pharma Are Found More Likely to Prescribe Brand-Name Drugs
ByadminShutterstock Generic cholesterol pills are probably better for most patients than brand-name medications because the lower cost of generics increases the chance the patients will take the pills every day. Yet some physicians primarily prescribe expensive brand-name drugs like Lipitor and Crestor. According to a recent study of physicians in Massachusetts, about a quarter of…
How Physicians Respond to the Price of Lab Tests before Ordering Them
ByadminShutterstock Healthcare prices in the U.S. are often hidden. Some people think this price opacity contributes to our nation’s high healthcare spending. If people don’t know how expensive healthcare is, they won’t have much reason to restrain healthcare utilization. A recent study tested what would happen if physicians were immediately informed of the price of lab tests…
Who Provides More Unnecessary Care: Physicians or Nurse Practitioners? (The Answer Is Surprising)
ByadminImagine you have been struggling for eight days with a bad cough, with what feels like a lifetime’s worth of secretions in your upper airways. When you called your primary care physician’s office, she wasn’t available, so you got an appointment with a nurse practitioner, who prescribed a course of antibiotics. Would you fill the…
Out Of Control Healthcare Spending
ByadminWondering where all your spare cash is going lately? Probably to healthcare:
The History of Tobacco Control — In One Picture
ByadminCame across this cool graphic, showing the rise and fall of U.S. cigarette consumption. The picture also shows when various policy levers were pulled, and how those levers track to consumption. WARNING: No proof of cause and effect. But still quite interesting.

