The folks at Vox media put together a series of pictures, illustrating how much more expensive medical care is in United States compared to other developed countries. Today, and in the next few days, I’m going to circulate some of those pictures. Prepare yourself for horror! Take medications, for example. (Please!) Pills for rheumatoid arthritis…
Shutterstock Mark Letterman’s rheumatoid arthritis had been progressing unrelentingly despite popping dozens of pills each week – eight methotrexate pills on Mondays alone. Letterman felt like he was 63 going on 93. If rheumatoid arthritis progresses unchecked, it is as debilitating of a disease as can be imagined. Don’t think garden variety arthritis that only…
If you use a smaller plate when you eat, you’ll eat less food. Here’s a rather wonky summary of research on plate size, a “meta-analysis” showing that smaller plates mean you put less food on the plate and, thus, eat less food. Less pie on your plate; less pie in your pie hole!
Warning – the warning labels pictured below are graphic but, according to a recent study, they increase the chances that people will quit smoking. Now we need to find a way to get legal permission to use such pictures, so we can shock people out of their habits.
Shutterstock American physicians deserve to be paid well for their work. As a physician, myself, I know what it takes to become a doctor in the U.S. Four years of late nights in the college library in hopes of achieving a GPA commensurate with medical school admission; then four years of medical school, which makes…
I write frequently about the high costs of healthcare, in the U.S. and in many other parts of the world. And in general, I believe strongly that most developed countries need to look seriously at how they’re spending healthcare dollars, and make great efforts to promote high value medical care. But in trying to control…
It is not unfair that we spend more on medical care for some people than others. After all, some people are sicker than others. If there’s anything unfair, it’s probably the uneven distribution of illness and disability. That said, the disparity in healthcare spending across people is pretty staggering. As this picture shows, courtesy of…
Shutterstock Knee replacements are booming. Between 2005 and 2015, the number of knee replacement procedures in the U.S. doubled, to more than one million. Experts think the figure might rise 6-fold more in the next couple decades, because of our aging population. Since many people receiving knee replacements are elderly, Medicare picks up most of…
A fascinating study from JAMA Internal Medicine shows that hospital mortality rates decline when hospitals are being inspected by The Joint Commission, a national accrediting agency. Here’s a picture showing the research findings: Which raises the question – is there a way for hospitals to be vigilant even when they aren’t being inspected?
My colleagues and I just published a study in The Journal of Oncology Practice, showing what happens when the topic of healthcare costs comes up during oncology clinic appointments. Check out this nice news article discussing our findings: Even brief conversations between oncologists and patients about cancer costs can help reduce treatment expenses, a new…